Karnewar's century goes vain as Vidarbha lose to Karnataka

In reply to Karnatak's total of 314 for 7, Vidarbha were restricted to 248 for nine and thus they faced second consecutive defeat. Once again the failure of top-order batsmen to deliver their best with bat proved costly for Vidarbha. While chasing the target, Vidarbha lost seven wickets for 51 runs a former skipper Faiz Fazal (2), Atharva Taide (4), skipper Akshay Wadkar (10), Ganesh Satish (4) and Apoorv Wankhade (17) returned to the pavilion cheaply.

When it appeared that Vidarbha would face heavy defeat, Akshay Karnewar and speedster Darshan Nalkande (57, 66b, 54, 2x6) showed lot of character and faced Karnataka bowlers bravely. While rotating the strike and punishing the poor deliveries, they made 140 run partnership for eighth wicket. But that was not enough to notch up victory. In the process, Kanrewar completed his second first class century and Nalkande half ton. The result would have been different had Vidarbha top order batsmen contributed.

For Karnataka, Koushik V claimed four wickets conceding 27 runs while Vidwath Kaveerappa took three for 40.

Earlier, Karnatakabatters punished Vidarbha bowlers and crossed 300- run mark. Nikin Jose (96, 121 b, 7x4, 1x6), Shreyas Gopal (56, 43b, 4x4, 3x6) ad Manish Pandey (44, 39b, 5x4, 2x6) hammered runs after Karnataka lost openes Samarth (19) and captain Mayank Agarwal (9) for 56 runs.

Tailenders Gowtham K (30) and MS Bhandage (23) also contributed.

For Vidarbha, Darshan Nalkande claimed three wickets for 74 runs while Akahsy Karnewat got two for 57.

Brief scores

Karnataka: 317 for 7 in 50 overs (Nikin Jose 96, Shreyas Gopal 56, Manish Pandey 44, Darshan Nalkande 3 for 74, Akahsy Karnewar 2 for 57)

Vidarbha: 248 for 9 in 50 overs (Akshay Karnewar 104, Darshan Nalkande 57, V Koushik 4 for 27, Vidwath Kaverappa 3 for 40,)

Resut: Karnataka won by 66 runs.