Karnataka have entered the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) for the third time in four seasons to set up an all Southern affair against Tamil Nadu. It will be a repeat of the 2019-20 final as both teams will be in high confidence going into the final on November 22. In doing so, the SMAT trophy will be home to South India for the fourth consecutive season.
Karnataka were involved in a tense battle against Vidarbha in the second semi-final of the SMAT. Karnataka got off to a fantastic start with an incredible 132 run stand for the opening wicket. Rohan Kadam was instrumental as the left-handed batter, smashed 87 off just 56 balls. With seven fours and four sixes, he was firing on all cylinders. On the other end, it was Karnataka's skipper, Manish Pandey played the anchor role with a well-made 54 off 42.
Once the opening partnership was broken Vidarbha snatched the moment to make a comeback in the contest as Karnataka managed to score only 44 runs in their final five overs. Courtesy to the sensational final over of Darshan Nalkande who picked four wickets in four balls.
Vidarbha started slowly and looked like a tough nut to crack before KC Cariappa produced the breakthrough in the fifth over. Although Vidarbha lost wickets at regular intervals, all of their batters showed resilience and scored in double figures. Apoorv Wankhade and Akshay Karnewar were set in the final few overs and it seemed that they would take Vidarbha into the final.
But with 14 runs required in the final over, the pressure got the better of Karnewar as he was dismissed by Vidyadhar Patil. Ultimately, Vidarbha managed only nine runs in the final over and gave the final ticket to Karnataka.
Karnataka will be playing their third SMAT final having won the competition on the previous two occasions when they were in the final, in 2018-19 and 2019-20. In the later final, they defeated Tamil Nadu, whom they will again play on Monday (November 22) in the repeat of the 2019-20 edition final.
