Mayank headlines Karnataka's triumph

Cheteshwar Pujara's valiant 94 could not deny Karnataka the Vijay Hazare title as Saurashtra slumped to a heart-breaking 41-run loss in the finale at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Tuesday (February 27). Set to chase 254 for their first domestic one-day trophy in a decade, Saurashtra's top and middle-order imploded to put Karnataka firmly in the driver's seat but the entertaining second-half of their captain's knock threatened to snatch the game away until his luck ran out in the 45th over, when the team was still 54 away. Prasidh Krishna and Krishnappa Gowtham were the wreckers-in-chief, picking up three wickets apiece for Karnataka, who were helped to the match-winning total courtesy yet another Mayank Agarwal masterclass.

As has mostly been the case this season, Karnataka's batting revolved around the flawless hitting of Agarwal and another top-order batsman playing second fiddle in a match-defining partnership. While wickets fell around him, the opener continued his ridiculous form to notch up his seventh 80-plus score of the tournament and, aided by contributions from the middle order, set Karnataka up for a respectable 253 despite the jitters.

Saruashtra got into Karnataka's middle order as early as in the third over by removing both their India internationals for nought - captain Karun Nair getting a peach of an inswinger from Shaurya Sanandia that nipped back in to take his off-stump with it and South Africa-returned KL Rahul falling to a schoolboy error of not dragging his bat in while sneaking in a cheeky single.

The in-form duo of Agarwal and Samarth showed the way to bat by picking gaps almost at will in their 136-run partnership for the third wicket. Agarwal's delectable drives stood out amidst the ruins of two early wickets. His impeccable timing and placement meant Karnataka didn't fall behind on run-rate even in the resurrection phase. Opening partners not so long ago, Agarwal and Samarth went about their business unperturbed, the confidence of a successful season reflecting in their effortless batting as they added runs at more than six an over in their 22.1-over alliance. The pair put the pressure back on Saurashtra by capitalising on some lousy fielding to sneak in singles and convert the ones into twos and threes with their quick running between the wickets.

Samarth, dropped at gully on 2, went on to make a methodical 49 but Agarwal stole the limelight until his run-a-ball fifty in the 16th over. He went on the offensive against Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, lifting two straight hits over the long-off fielder to add more sixes to his tally before an attempt to replicate the same shot in left-arm spinner's following over was foiled by Jaydev Unadkat giving Saurashtra probably their most important breakthrough. Prerak Mankad, who bowled nine overs on the trot, then landed another telling blow as he stunned Samarth with an absolute jaffa that crashed onto his stumps when the batsman was just one away from his fifty.

Pavan Deshpande kept the scoreboard ticking and found support in all-rounder Shreyas Gopal. The pair chipped in with valuable cameos to bail Karnataka out after they'd lost their two set batsman and experienced all-rounder Stuart Binny in the space of four overs. Gopal played the aggressor in the 41-run stand for the sixth wicket, hitting half a dozen boundaries before a razor-sharp direct hit from Aarpit Vasavada dashed Karnataka's hopes of late assault. Though with Deshpande still able to find boundaries Karnataka could have still crossed the 280-mark had it not been for Kamlesh Makvana's fine four-fer in death overs that consumed Karnataka's lower order.

Left to bat with the tail, the pressure of dot balls got the better of Deshpande who gifted an easy return catch to the offspinner. Twelve balls later, Makvna hit the off pole of Prasidh Krishna with a delivery turning in sharply to record his best List A figures of 4 for 34 as Karnataka folded for 253 with 25 balls left untouched in their innings. Karnataka needed early wickets to be able to defend their modest score and got just the ideal start with Prasidh Krishna making inroads early. Saurashtra were immediately pushed on the backfoot after two setbacks - their gamble to promote the No. 11 to one-drop not clicking - and the young middle-order failed to absorb the pressure. Pujara did hang in there, but his lowly strike rate never made him look like a threatening proposition until he found support in Makvana (20) to unleash his shots towards the fag end. Though all his efforts only delayed the inevitable.

Avi Barot kept the runs coming in even as his captain took a while settling in. Pujara overcame his cautious start with back to back boundaries off Stuart Binny that also gave Saurashtra's run-rate a much-needed boost. But just as the partnership was starting to gain momentum, Barot holed out to the man at long-on that opened the floodgates for Karnataka. Following a brief lull, Ravindra Jadeja too top-edged, trying to repeat a slogsweep that fetched him a six off Deshpande on just the previous delivery.

Pujara stood disappointed at the other end as Gowtham sent down a double-wicket maiden in which he took out Vasavada and Mankad in the space of three deliveries and, with that, all hopes of a Saurashtra win. Chirag Jani took a few risks when the equation was down to 139 required off 96 balls but a communication breakdown with his captain cost him his wicket in a run out.

All Pujara could do, once he'd crossed his fifty, was to not surrender without that last fight. The skipper threw caution to the wind and converted his 50 off 99 balls to a 94 off 127 - the highlight of the second half being the 15-run over off S Aravind that triggered panic in Karnataka's camp. With the ever-climbing asking rate, the equation was always in Karnataka's favour but It wasn't until Nair's run out of his opposite number that Karnataka could breathe easy.

Six short of a fighting hundred, Pujara walked off to a standing ovation from his dressing room and the 300-odd Kotla crowd but Nair and his men walked away with the silverware.

Brief scores: Karnataka 253 all out in 45.5 overs (Mayank Agarwal 90, Pavan Deshpande 49, R Samarth 48; Kamlesh Makvana 4-34) beat Saurashtra 212 all out in 46.3 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 94; K Gowtham 3-27, Prasidh Krishna 3-37) by 41 runs.