Deodhar Trophy 2016 Final: Dinesh Karthik smashes 10th List A century, Tamil Nadu crowned champions

Riding on a brilliant century by captain Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu brushed aside India B by 42 runs in the final of the Deodhar Trophy at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Vishakapatnam. It was a dominating performance by the Vijay Hazare champions especially against a side who boasted of many India internationals.

The toss was won by Dinesh Karthik and opted to bat. Openers Kaushik Gandhi and Ganga Sridhar Raju got off to a sedated start scoring at less than 3 runs per over. After a brief 24 runs partnership in 7 overs, Gandhi gave away his wicket to Dhawal Kulkarni. Murugan Ashwin known more for his bowling skills was promoted up the order but the ploy didn’t work as he was dismissed by Kulkarni in the very next over.

Kulkarni gained in confidence and started bowling some exceptional deliveries. He finally got his 3rd reward in the 11th over when he induced a false shot from Ganga Sridhar Raju as the home team were pushed to a corner. With the score at 39/3, captain Dinesh Karthik walked out in the middle to join N Jagadeesan. The scenario of the game changed within a blink of an eye when Karthik came out in the middle.

Along with Jagadeesan, Karthik started steadying the ship with some sensible batting and never allowed the bowlers to dominate. Both of them played some delightful shots en route to their respective half-century and century. They stitched together a crucial 145 runs for the 4th wicket which ensured Tami Nadu recovered from their early jolts and were in a position to a respectable total on the board.

Karthik played some delightful shots during the fag end of the innings which helped him complete his 10th List A career century. His whirlwind innings of 126 of 91 balls contained 14 fours and 3 hits over the fence. The right-hander was finally dismissed by Axar Patel but by then he had taken Tamil Nadu to a comfortable position. Courtesy his knock Tamil Nadu reached 303/9. Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the India B bowlers finishing with an impressive spell of 5/39 in 10 overs.

Openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan began proceeding and looked in good touch from the outside. Patel played 3 delightful shots before giving away his wicket to M Mohammed. Shikhar Dhawan started off from where he left in the previous match and treated the Vizag crowd with some delightful strokeplay.

After making a 34 ball 45, Dhawan was dismissed by Rahi Shah and immediately after his wicket Ishank Jaggi too fell in the very next over as India B was reduced to 84/3. Harpeet Singh and Gurkeerat Singh Mann joined hands and looked to resurrect the innings. The duo shared a vital partnership for the 4th wicket but just when it looked India B would take the game away from the opposition, Murugan Ashwin struck and removed Harpeet Singh for 36.

Axar Patel also followed Harpeet to the dressing room in quick succession and the scales tilted in the favour of Tamil Nadu. Despite a valiant fight from Akshay Karnewar and Gurkeerat Singh, India B eventually fell short of the Tamil Nadu total by 42 runs. Rahil Shah was the wrecker-in-chief for Tamil Nadu finishing with impressive figures of 3/40 in his allotted 10 overs.

Brief Scores

Tamil Nadu 303/9 in 50 overs (Dinesh Karthik 126, N Jagadeesan 55, Dhawal Kulkarni 5/39)

India B 261 all-out in 46.1 overs (Gurkeerat Singh 64, Shikhar Dhawan 45, Rahil Shah 3/40)

Tamil Nadu won by 42 runs