Vivrant Sharma and Abid Mushtaq fought hard on Sunday but it went in vain as most of the other J&K players disappointed, costing them the third defeat in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Vivrant scored 46-ball 63 runs while Abid provided him support with 26-ball 32 runs, ensuring J&K doesn’t face a humiliating defeat. J&K was reduced to 31-6, chasing 148 against Karanatak. Vivrant and Abid then formed a stand of 60 runs.
But it wasn’t enough at the end with Karnataka posting an easy win of 34 runs. With this defeat, J&K is officially out of the tournament. They lost three out of the four games played so far.
Earlier, Karnataka won the toss and opted to bat first. J&K got off to a tremendous start. Abid Mushtaq took the wickets of international stars Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey in consecutive deliveries.
Parvez Rasool (4-11-1) bowled exceptionally well too. Karnataka was struggling at 33-4 at one stage but bizzare decision-making and ordinary bowling helped them a make a comeback into the match.
MS Bhandage (41 off 23) and Shreyas Gopal (48* off 38) were the main willow-wielders, helping Karnataka post a fighting total of 147 runs on board. For J&K, Abid Mushtaq (4-25-2) and debutant (3-16-2) were the pick of the bowlers.
In reply, J&K batters barring impact player Vivrant Sharma disappointed again. They were bundled out on 113 runs. It was seamer Vidwath Kaverappa who wrecked havoc with a fifer.
