The Lalabhai Contractor Stadium, Surat witnessed a thriller on Day 3 of the clash between Railways and Karnataka as Manish Pandey willed his side to a one-wicket in the absence of their captain Mayank Agarwal. The 34-year-old Manish used his experience as Karnataka chased down 226 after losing six wickets for 99.
Earlier in the day, starting at an overnight score of 209/8, Railways added 35 more runs to the score to post 244. Vijaykumar Vyshak got the wickets of Mohammad Saif and tailender Ayan Chaudhari to wrap up the innings. Saif was the top scorer for Railways with 82 runs from 156 balls.
In the run chase, Karnataka lost opener Dega Nischal for just one run to Himanshu Sangwan but Ravikumar Samarth and Aneesh KV played out the new ball. The second-wicket partnership of 68 runs was broken by Saif. Aneesh scored 34 runs from 88 balls. Then left-arm spinner Akash Pandey dismissed Samarth to add more pressure. The opener scored 35 runs from 104 balls. He went on to dismiss stand-in skipper Nikin Jose for a 12-ball duck and Hardik Raj (14). Saif then got the wicket of Kishan Bedare as Karnataka lost six wickets for 99.
Manish was still new to the crease and shared a crucial partnership with wicketkeeper-batter Srinivas Sharath. But Akash struck again to dismiss Sharath who contributed with 23 runs from 44 balls. After taking a fifer, Vyshak did the damage with the bat as well. He smashed five fours and a six in the 64-run partnership for the eighth wicket. Just when Karnataka looked like cruising towards the target, Sangwan came to their rescue with Vyshak's wicket.
Vidwath Kaverappa joined Manish in the middle. He scored eight runs from 24 balls before becoming Akash's fifth victim of the day. After Kaverappa's wicket, Karnataka were 214/9 and needed 12 more runs. Manish took matters into his own hands and finished the run chase. He got help from Vasuki Koushik who scored one run from two balls. Manish finished the run chase in Akash's over. He remained unbeaten for 67 balls from 121 balls. His knock featured six fours and a six.
This was Karnataka's third win of the season. They are on the top of the Elite Group C points table with 21 points and are poised to reach the knockouts. Karnataka will take on Tamil Nadu in their next clash at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on February 9. It is yet to be confirmed whether Agarwal will be available for the clash or not. In Tripura, he was hospitalised after drinking liquid from a pouch on the flight.
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