Indore, Mar 14:
Opener Mayank Agarwal smashed an unbeaten 85 off 57 balls as Karnataka dished out a clinical all-round performance to beat Maharashtra by eight wickets and lift the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Thursday.
Karnataka bowlers, led by experienced Abhimanyu Mithun (2-24), put up a spirited show to restrict Maharashtra to 155/4 despite an unbeaten 69 by all-rounder Naushad Shaikh.
Later, they overhauled the target with Agarwal and Rohan Kadam (60 off 39 balls) striking half-centuries.
Karnataka chased the target with nine balls to spare and ended their otherwise ordinary season on a high.
Chasing 156, Karnataka lost opener B R Sharath (2) in the third over after left-arm medium pacer Samad Fallah cleaned him up.
Then in-form Kadam and Agarwal steadied the ship, as Karnataka raced to 45/1 in five overs.
The duo kept on scoring at a brisk pace and took a listless Maharashtra attack to cleaners in their 92-run stand for the second wicket, which laid foundation of the eight-wicket win.
Karnataka were cruising at 106/1 in 12 overs and needed 50 runs. But then Kadam threw his wicket away. However, Kadam’s departure did not deter Agarwal from playing his natural game as he and Karun Nair (8 not out) then took the side home. (PTI)
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