Karnataka defeat Tamil Nadu by VJD method to clinch Vijay Hazare Trophy

Manish Pandey-led Karnataka defeated Tamil Nadu by 60 runs (VJD method) to lift the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday. The dominant display marked Karnataka's fourth title victory in the domestic tournament.

Opting to bowl first at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Karnataka struck their opposition with two early wickets within 8 overs. The Tamil Nadu innings was then resurrected by opener AbhinavMukund and middle-order batsman Baba Aparajith, who put on a commendable 124-run stand for the third wicket.

However, the visitors lost track just when they hadlooked set to press home the advantage.Mukund, after scoring a well-compiled 85, fell prey to Prateek Jain in the 31st over to initiate a procession of wickets. Aparajith too followed soon as things began to go haywire for Tamil Nadu. With the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar and Shahrukh Khan failing to kick on towards the end, the team managed to score 252 runs before being bowled out. Karnataka pacer AbhimanyMithun shone with five wickets and even took a hat-trick to celebrate his 30th birthday in style. The speedster ended with figures of 5-34 to stand as Tamil Nadu's chief destroyer.

Coming out to chase, Karnataka were dealt with an early blow when Washington Sundar cleaned up DevduttPadikkal. Tamil Nadu's hopes of defending their sub-par total though were squashed by KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal who looked unstoppable at the crease. Both the prolific run scorers brought up their respective half-centuries and stitched a 112 run stand in quick time before the skies opened up to interrupt the game after 23 overs. Cruising to 146-1 before rain played the spoilsport, Karnataka placed themselves 60 runs ahead of the VJD par score of 86 at the stage.

With the umpires reckoning that the rain delay caused a loss of considerable amount of time, Karnataka were adjudged as the title winners, much to the delight of the local crowd.