At the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad on Monday, Tamil Nadu made the most of being asked to bat first by Sunil Joshi to amass a mammoth 205 for seven, to which Karnataka tamely replied with 140 for nine to go down by a comprehensive margin of 65 runs.
It was Karnataka’s second defeat in as many matches, all but scuttling their chances of advancing to the all-India stage, while Tamil Nadu registered their fourth successive triumph to cement their standing at the top of the table.
Srikkanth smashed four fours and six sixes in a spectacular 46-ball 77 that sent Karnataka scurrying for cover. Runs flowed thick and fast for Tamil Nadu, Srikkanth’s effort complemented by G Vignesh (42, 23b, 5x4, 3x6) and Dinesh Kaarthick (28, 21b, 4x4).
Karnataka needed their beefy top-order of Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal and Robin Uthappa to fire, but with neither man amongst the runs, they were always fighting a losing battle.
It was left to Joshi, who top-scored with an unbeaten 32 (26b, 2x4, 1x6) to provide some respectability as Karnataka settled for a modest reply. Hyderabad overcame Goa by 14 runs in a match restricted to five overs a side, while the day’s other contest, between Andhra and Kerala, was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu: 205/7 in 20 overs (Aniruddha Srikkanth 77, G Vignesh 42, Dinesh Kaarthick 28; Sunil Joshi 2-26, Abhimanyu Mithun 2-35) bt Karnataka: 140/9 in 20 overs (Sunil Joshi 32 n.o., Stuart Binny 25; C Ganapathy 2-31, Abhinav Mukund 2-30). Tamil Nadu 4 pts, Karnataka 0.
Hyderabad: 62/6 in 5 overs (T Suman 38; Sher Bahadur Yadav 3-5) bt Goa: 48/6 in 5 overs (Kaniskk Naidu 3-5). Hyderabad 4 pts, Goa 0.
Andhra vs Kerala, washed without a ball being bowled. Andhra 2 pts, Kerala 2.