What a nail-biter! Karnataka clinch Super Over win

Let’s get right into it and talk  about how the final over unfolded: Bengal wanted a mammoth 20 off the  final over to win. Definitely, it looked  like a bridge too far but two sixes and  a four from Ritwik Roy Chowdhury put Bengal firmly on the driver’s  seat. They wanted a run off the final  delivery. On the stirke was Akash  Deep, who was recruited by RCB, instead of trying an aerial route went  for a non-existent single with fielders  circling him and to his horror, played  with soft hands and chose to tip and  run, but couldn’t get past Pandey’s  tracer bullet throw at the non-striker’s end in one action.

In Super Over, Bengal batted first in  the next phase of the game but KC Cariappa’s masterclass got the better of the  Bengal batters. Kaif Ahmed holed out to Karun Nair at long-off on the second  ball. A four thereafter made it five runs  in three balls. With pressure building  up, Goswami attempted to sneak a quick  second on the fourth delivery but fell short as Bengal finished at 5/2. Namma  boys wanted 6 runs to enter semis. The  senior duo Manish Pandey and Karun  Nair strode out to bat and Pandey pulled  a shot in style for six over mid-wicket to  win the game.

In a debatable decision, skipper  Sudeep Chatterjee sent an off-color Kaif  Ahmed along with Ritwik Roy Chowdhury in the Super Over was baffling.  Ahmed had barely scratched to score 20  off 26 balls. Surprisingly, Ritwik, who  brought Bengal back in contention with  36 off 18 balls, did not take the strike in  the Super Over.

The quarter-final match was testimony as to why Bengal’s cricketers are  not at all sought after when it comes  franchise interest. A lot of it had to do  with a lack of sane cricketing sense and  the manner in which some of the batters throw away their wickets. Barring  Writtick Chatterjee (51 off 40 balls), who  tried to anchor the innings, others paid  the price of indiscreet shot selection.

Asked to bat, Karnataka suffered an  early setback, thanks to Karun Nair who  scored unbeaten 55 off 29 balls to take  his side to 160 for 5, which gave them a  chance to fight. As big names have gone  for India duties, it would have been an  ideal opportunity for debutants to make  a point.

While Shreevats Goswami (22 off 10  balls) started with 20 off the first over  of chase with three fours and a six off  Vijay Kumar Vyshak (0/41 in 4 overs),  his opening partner Abhishek Das with  a career strike-rate of less than 90, tried  to pull the very first delivery of the next  over when all he needed to do was give  his senior partner the strike.

In the other quarterfinals, Vidarbha  booked a semifinal berth with a 9-wicket  victory over Rajasthan; while TN beat  Kerala by 5 wickets.

With this, the four semifinalists of  Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, and  Vidarbha. They all play on Saturday in  New Delhi.