R Vinay Kumar & Co. in 7th heaven

Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar was a happy man on Sunday as he received an early birthday gift by joining the elite group of captains like Erapalli Prasanna and Rahul Dravid who lifted the glittering Ranji Trophy for Karnataka in the past.

Vinay Kumar, who will turn 30 on February 12, led the Karnataka side that overcame the stiff resistance from a young Maharashtra side to script a seven-wicket win in the final at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here. This was Karnataka’s seventh Ranji title and the first since winning in 1998-99 under the leadership of Sunil Joshi when they beat Madhya Pradesh in the title clash in Bangalore.

On the other hand, Maharashtra, who featured in the final after 21 years, fought desperately to end their 72-year title drought. Having no other option but to go all out, they added 94 runs to their overnight score of 272/6 to set Karnataka a victory target of 157. All-rounder Shrikant Mundhe scored a brisk 42 (75balls, 3x4) and was supported by captain Rohit Motwani (21 off 48) as Maharashtra posted 366 in their second innings.

However, Maharashtra’s hopes of getting an outright win was shattered as Karnataka attained the 157-run target quite comfortably.