Vijay Hazare Trophy: KL Rahul, Manish Pandey anchor Karnataka win over Chhattisgarh; Saurashtra beat Andhra Pradesh by 153 runs

Bengaluru: Skipper Manish Pandey and opener KL Rahul shone with the bat as Karnataka defeated Chhattisgarh by 79 runs in their Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday. Put in to bat first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Karnataka rode on Rahul’s 81 runs and an unbeaten 142 by Pandey. [caption id=“attachment_6168051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of KL Rahul. AP[/caption] It was a Rahul and Pandey show all the way, as the duo hammered the Chhattisgarh bowlers. Karnataka posted a decent 285/7 in their 50 overs and managed to bundle out the opposition for 206 in 44 overs. Karnataka lost opener Devdutt Padikkal (8) and Karun Nair (1) quickly. But Rahul and Pandey had other plans, as they conjured up a solid 150-run stand for the third wicket. Rahul, who was dropped from the Indian Test team against South Africa, made a statement of sorts to the national selectors. He hit six fours and a lone six in his patient 103- ball knock, as he played second fiddle to Pandey. For Chhattisgarh, pacer Pankaj Rao (2/60) and Shashank Singh (2/66) took two wickets each. Pandey blasted a quick-fire 142 off just 118 balls, which included five fours and seven sixes. While wickets kept falling at the other end, Pandey kept playing his shots and it was because of his incredible knock that Karnataka crossed the 280-run mark. Karnataka pacers M Prasidh Krishana (3/31) and Ronit More (2/52) ran through the Chhattisgarh top order, and they were struggling at 3-68. Then spinner Shreyas Gopal (3/53) spun his web around Chhattisgarh batsmen, as their chase never really took off. For Chhattisgarh, Amandeep Khare fought a lone battle with 43 out of 62 balls. Amandeep was the last man to be dismissed, as Chhattisgarh’s innings folded up at 206. Meanwhile, in the other Elite Group A match, Saurashtra thrashed Andhra by a whopping 153 runs, in which Samarth Vyas and Jaydev Unadkat shone with the bat and ball, respectively. In another match, Jharkhand pipped Kerala by five runs to grab four points in a 36-over game that went down to the wire. Brief Scores: Karnataka 285/7 (Manish Pandey 142 not out, K L Rahul 81; Pankaj Rao 2-60) beat Chhattisgarh 206 all out (Amandeep Khare 43, Shashank Chandrakar 42; M Prasidh Krishna 3-31) by 79 runs. Karnataka four points, Chhattisgarh 0 points. Saurashtra 298/3 (Samarth Vyas 124 not out, V Jadeja 82; Manish Golamaru 1-40) beat Andhra 145 all out (Karan Shinde 52, Shoaib Khan 35; Jaydev Unadkat 3-18). Saurashtra four points, Andhra 0 points. Jharkhand 258/5 in 36 overs (Kumar Deobrat 54, Saurabh Tiwari 49; Sandeep Warrior 3-33) beat Kerala 253 all out (Sachin Baby 60, Vishnu Vinod 56; Anukul Roy 4-31, Utkarsh Singh 4-38) by five runs. Jharkhand four points, Kerala 0 points.