Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | No better feeling than beating Mumbai in Mumbai, elates Karun Nair

Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | No better feeling than beating Mumbai in Mumbai, elates Karun Nair

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Karnataka captain Karun Nair has admitted that there is no feeling quite like beating the 41-time Ranji champions Mumbai on their home soil, that too in dominating fashion. Karun and Co. handed Mumbai a second successive three-day loss when they completed a five-wicket win in the Group B tie.

Resuming from their overnight score of 109 for five — with a lead of 85 — the hosts were bowled out for 149, led by a four-fer from Prateek Jain. Set 125 to win, Karnataka eased home on the back of a quickfire half-century by opener Devdutt Padikkal. The win pushed Karnataka up to second and within two points of Punjab at the top of the Elite Group A and B table, meaning their campaign was back on track after conceding the lead to Himachal Pradesh last week.

“Beating Mumbai in Mumbai, no better feeling than that. The confidence that all the boys will get from this is amazing. It’s time for us to push on and make sure we keep this momentum with us,” Karun said, reported Sportstar.

“Blips will keep happening with any team but it’s important how you come back and we have come back strongly,” he added.

On the other hand, Karun’s Mumbai counterpart, Suryakumar Yadav, was left with no place to hide as Mumbai succumbed to another three-day loss. Things are only bound to get tougher in the latter half of the tournament, as the team is set to miss its captain, Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw for at least the next three matches. Yadav and Shaw have been selected for India A’s tour to New Zealand, while Rahane will head to Bengaluru to prepare for next month’s Test series in New Zealand.

“Like against Railways we failed to score big due to lack of application. We could have done better in all departments. We failed as a unit. It’s a difficult situation to address but it’s just the third game. Looking at history we have always come back stronger and we will come back stronger,” Surya said.

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