Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019 | KL Rahul leads Karnataka to 60-run win over neighbours Kerala
KL Rahul’s brilliant 131 off just 122 balls led Karnataka to a comfortable 60-run win over their neighbours Kerala in the Round 4 matches. Set 295 to win, Kerala suffered a lower-order collapse from 184 for three to 234 all out with opening batsman Vishnu Vinod’s century going in vain.
After being dropped from the Indian Test squad for his inconsistent showing, Rahul showed up at his home ground in Bengaluru with a vengeance. Put into bat, Karnataka suffered two early losses courtesy of the impressive pacer Sandeep Warrier, who produced figures of two for 46 from his quota of 10 overs. However, Rahul’s century, which included 10 fours and four sixes, combined with skipper Manish Pandey’s near run-a-ball 50 helped the hosts recover well.
After Pandey was dismissed, Rahul took charge of the innings and guided his team close to the 250-run mark with nearly eight overs to spare. Had it not been for some good death bowling from KM Asif and Basil Thampi, Kerala would've been chasing upwards of 300. But their task of chasing down 295 got a whole lot difficult when opener Vinoop Manoharan had to walk back run out in the first over, without facing a ball.
But his partner Vishnu was joined by the stylish Sanju Samson, whose quickfire 67, put Kerala well and truly on their way. Once Sanju fell in the 21st over, it was up to either of the senior men in Robin Uthappa or Sachin Baby to support Vishnu. Although he completed his ton, by the time he was dismissed in the 46th over, Kerala had all of one wicket left. Ronit More's three-fer and Abhimanyu Mithun's two-fer meant Kerala suffered their second successive defeat in the tournament.Â
