Karnataka steamroll Tamil Nadu to lift Vijay Hazare Trophy

Abhimanyu Mithun’s five-wicket haul including a hat-trick and a solid second-wicket stand between KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal helped Karnataka secure Vijay Hazare Trophy against Tamil Nadu at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. The final did not reach conclusion with rain playing spoilsport but with 23 overs played in the second innings, Karnataka became champions by 60 runs on VJD method.

Tamil Nadu struggle after a set base

Tamil Nadu stormed into the final with an unbeaten run through the league phase. They entered the final with their semi-final against Punjab being rained out. After losing the toss, Dinesh Karthik’s side batted first. Tamil Nadu lost Murali Vijay in the first over itself. The management surprised everyone by sending R Ashwin at the third spot. However, the move did not work out as he fell for a 13-ball 8.

Abhinav Mukund and Baba Aparajith began the repairing job. The in-form duo added 124 runs with both batsmen completing their fifties. Mukund fell 15 runs short of his century while Aparajith returned to the pavilion on 66. With 180 runs on the board and six wickets remaining Tamil Nadu aimed for acceleration.

Vijay Shankar raised hopes with his brief 38 from 35 balls while Karthik failed to make a significant contribution. Shahrukh Khan who had gotten TN out of the jail in the semi-final tried his best in the death overs but Abhimanyu Mithun came out trumps. The birthday boy snapped three wickets in three balls to end Tamil Nadu’s innings at 252 all out. The all-caught hat-trick allowed Mithun to register his best bowling figures in List A cricket – 5/34.

A Hat-trick for Abhimanyu Mithun in the final over, becomes the first Karnataka bowler to take a hat-trick in #VijayHazare Trophy.
Tamil Nadu bowled out for 252 in 49.5 overs#KARvTN @paytm pic.twitter.com/A17K50jAxW

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) October 25, 2019

Rahul and Agarwal steer Karnataka reply

Tamil Nadu began with their spinners, Washington Sundar and R Ashwin in a bid to take early wickets. Sundar succeeded in getting tournament’s highest wicket-taker Devdutt Padikkal out cheaply. However, Mayank Agarwal stepped out to bat at number three and Karnataka didn’t look back. Rahul and Agarwal did not offer a chance to the bowlers and cruised towards the target. Both brought up their fifties and looked all set to take the game till the end but the rain had other plans. No further play was possible. Karnataka were declared winners since they were ahead on the VJD method.

Brief scores:

Tamil Nadu 252 (A Mukund 85, B Aparajith 66, V Shankar 38, A Mithun 5-34, V Koushik 2-39) lost to Karnataka 146 for 1 (M Agarwal 69*, KL Rahul 52*) by 60 runs (VJD method)