Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017-18 Final, Review: Karnataka clinch their third title

A stupendous all-round display from Karnataka saw the Saurashtra team get hammered in the most obnoxious manner possible at the Feroz Shah Kola, Delhi which eventually helped them to clinch their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title. Karun Nair and his troops managed to outclass Saurashtra in every aspect and this pretty much reflects on the scoreline.

On a turning track, the toss fell in favour of the Saurashtra skipper Cheteshwar Pujara and he elected to bowl first. For Karnataka, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal started the proceedings but were not able to replicate their semi-final effort as the skipper departed without troubling the scorers. The comeback man KL Rahul, who was handed over the wicket-keeping duties got run out in absolute resentment.

Losing two quick wickets, Mayank Agarwal had a task to be performed and one will have to say, he played yet another dazzling knock to help his side be in a comfortable position. Unfortunately, he fell 10 short of what could have been a memorable hundred. With this, Karnataka Team managed to put up a respectable total of 253 runs, banking on the blistering 90-run-knock by Mayank and a decent cameo from Pavan Deshpande’s bat.

Chasing 253, Saurashtra Team needed just one big knock to end their decade-long barren run in the premier one-day competition. However, the wickets kept tumbling from the men-in-blue which eventually led them to play some fancy shots. Skipper Cheteshwar Pujara hung in for long but consumed a lot more deliveries than one expects in a limited overs encounter. His 94 run knock ended in a bizarre fashion as there was a confusion between the striker and him, which eventually caused a run-out. None the less, Pujara played a fighting knock but eventually went in vain.

Chirag Jani and Ravindra Jadeja chanced their hand and struck a six each but failed to last long enough to cause jitters in the opposition camp. In the end, it was Karnataka Team who held their nerves and eventually managed to get their hand on the coveted title.

Brief Scores

Karnataka v Saurashtra

Karnataka: 253/10 in 45.5 overs (Mayank Agarwal 90; Kamlesh Makvana 4/34)

Saurashtra: 212/10 in 46.3 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 94; K Gowtham 3/27)