Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mayank Agarwal helps Karnataka beat Railways, qualify for knockouts

Karnataka beat Railways by 16 runs on Friday to qualify for the knockout phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy from Group A alongside table toppers Baroda.

Mayank Agarwal continued his good form with a fine 89 off balls (15 fours) and shared a 132-run fourth-wicket partnership with Pavan Deshpande (65, 67 balls, 9X4, 1×6) as Karnataka made 257 all out in 48.1 overs. The home team slid from 182 for 4 to be all out in 49th after the fall of Deshpande as the Railways bowlers tightened things up.

In response, Railways were in trouble straightaway as both the openers failed to open their account and the fall of a further four wickets left them tottering at 54 for 6. When a quick end looked possible, Anureet Singh (59), Ankit Yadav (51) and Avinash Yadav (40) launched a fightback.

Anureet and Ankit were involved in a 91-run stand for the seventh wicket to revive Railways’ hopes. However, young medium-pacer M Prasidh took three wickets to hasten a collapse and the visitors were dismissed in the 48th over.

In the other two games played in the group, Odisha trounced Haryana by nine wickets and Baroda, riding on opener Aditya Waghmode’s superb knock of …read more