Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karnataka rout Odisha; Delhi suffer shock loss to Kerala

The inform Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair slammed centuries to power Karnataka to a crushing 133-run win over Odisha in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Group 'A' League in Alur on Tuesday.

Coming into the game after a loss to Punjab, Karnataka piled up 353 for 6 in 50 overs after being put in and bowled Odisha out for 220 in 41 overs. In other Group A games, Baroda defeated Railways by 192 runs and Punjab beat Assam by 69 runs.

Mayank Agarwal and Nair added 190 runs for the opening wicket to put Karnataka on track for a big score. Agarwal scored 102 from 94 balls with two sixes and ten fours while Nair hit 100 from 111 deliveries with 12 fours.

Pavan Deshpande hammered an unbeaten 54 from 37 balls, while K Gowtham contributed with 47 from 20 balls to swell Karnataka's total. Odisha began well as Rajesh Dhuper (53) and Anurag Sarangi (58) came up with half-centuries each to lay an ideal platform. However, Suchith (5 for 34) spun a web around the Odisha batsmen to send them hurtling to defeat.

Meanwhile, Baroda thrashed Railways thanks to a blistering 161 by captain Deepak Hooda and Kedar Devdhar's 111. After amassing 357 for 7 in 50 overs, Baroda bowled out the opponent for 165 in 37 overs.

Delhi suffer shock loss to Kerala

Delhi's unbeaten run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was on Tuesday brought to a halt by Kerala, who produced a team effort to eke out a stunning two-wicket win in a weather-hit Group B match in Dharamsala.

Coming into the match with four wins from as many outings, fancied Delhi were shocked by Kerala in the game reduced to 42-over-a-side contest due to wet outfield. The loss, however, will hardly have any affect on Delhi's knockout chances as they are sitting pretty at the top with 16 points from five games.

Delhi are all but through, making it a four-way fight between Maharashtra (10 points), Kerala (10), Himachal Pradesh (10) and Uttar Pradesh (8) points for the second spot. Sent into bat, Delhi were shot out for a mediocre 177 in 39.3 overs with Dhruv Shorey top-scoring with a 90-ball 71, which included five boundaries and a six.

Barring Shorey, Delhi batsmen struggled against the moving ball in overcast conditions. Milind Kumar (25) and skipper Pradeep Sangwan (25) were the next best scorers. Medium pacer M D Niheesh picked up four wickets for Kerala, giving away 41 runs, while Fazil Fanoos (2/27) accounted for two.

In reply, Kerala overwhelmed the target in 35.4 overs with captain Sachin Baby top-scoring with a fine 52 off 57 balls, which included seven boundaries. Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson (29), Jalaj Saxena (26), Vishnu Vinod (21) and Mohammed Azharuddeen (21) also made useful contributions with the bat. Navdeep Saini (4/39) starred for Delhi with the ball and got good support from Kulwant Khejroliya (3/27).

In another Group B match at Nadaun, Bengal defeated Tripura by 109 runs to taste their first win of the tournament in another curtailed affair. Asked to bat, Bengal scored a huge 249 all out after the match was reduced to 33-over-a-side game because of wet outfield and then shot out Tripura for 140 in 29 overs.

The other Group B match of the day between Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra in Bilaspur was abandoned without a ball being bowled owing to wet outfield.

Brief Scores of Group A matches

At Dharamsala: Delhi 177 all out in 39.3 overs (Dhruv Shorey 71; M D Nidheesh 4/41) lost to Kerala 178 for 8 in 35.4 overs (Sachin Baby 52; Navdeep Saini 4/39) by 2 wickets.

At Nadaun: Bengal 249 all out in 33 overs (Vivek Singh 84, Abhishek Raman 76; Abhijit Chakraborty 7/40) beat Tripura 140 all out in 29 overs (Joydeep Banik 51; Alok Pratap Singh 4/36) by 109 runs.

At Bilaspur: Match between Himalchal Pradesh and Maharashtra abandoned due to wet outfield.