Karnataka beat India B by 6 runs in Deodhar Trophy

Dharamsala, March 5 (IANS) Vijay Hazare Trophy winners Karnataka overcame India B by six runs in their first match of the Deodhar Trophy 50-overs cricket tournament here on Monday.

Ravikumar Samarth's brilliant 117 took Karnataka to 296/8. During the chase, India B, who on Sunday defeated Indi A, managed to reach 290/9, driven by Manoj Tiwary's sublime 120.

Samarth, who hit 13 fours and a six, got good support from Piyush Deshpande (46) and Mayank Agarwal (44). C.M. Gautam (28) and K. Gowtham (20) also came up with crucial contributions towards late.

For India B, medium pacer Siddharth Kaul was the pick of the bowlers, picking three wickets for 49, while off-spinner Jayant Yadav and medium pacer Harshal Patel bagged two wickets each.

In reply, Bengal batsman and India international Tiwary nearly inspired India B to a successful chase. Tiwary forged an 133 fifth-wicket stand with Siddhesh Lad (70) to lift India B to 241/5 when his wicket fell.

Tiwary also shared an 85-run stand with Mumbai top-order batsman Shreyas Iyer (33) for the fourth wicket at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium.

Later, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (19 not out), Umesh Yadav (13) tried their best to take India B over the line but they fell short by six runs.

Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal picked three wickets for southern powerhouse Karnataka, while medium pacer Prasidh Krishna bagged two wickets.

Brief scores: Karnataka: 296/8 (Ravikumar Samarth 117; Siddharth Kaul 3/49, Jayant Yadav 2/48) vs India B: 290/9 (Manoj Tiwary 120, Siddhesh Lad 70; Shreyas Gopal 3/29, Prasidh Krishna 2/45).