Gowtham-Gopal duo bowls Karnataka to 59-run win

Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (4/91) and off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham (3/92) shared bulk of the spoils as Karnataka beat Hyderabad by 59 runs in an exciting Ranji Trophy group A encounter, here today.
Chasing a target of 380, Hyderabad were all-out for 320 in 109.4 overs giving Karnataka, their second outright win in as many matches. Karnataka are now on top of group A with 13 points in 2 games.
In the end, it was the 57-run first innings lead that proved to be a clincher for the hosts.
Hyderabad started the day at 92 for 2 but suddenly slumped to 117 for 4 before BP Sandeep (80) and Akash Bhandari (28) built on a partnership of 93 runs for the fifth wicket before Gowtham breached Bhandari's defence.

The other significant partnership was between Sandeep and
Ashish Reddy (58 no) as they added 73 for the eighth wicket before Vinay Kumar castled Sandeep.

Reddy raised visions of an improbable victory with five boundaries and three sixes. Sandeep during his patient 205 ball knock had 10 boundaries.
However the target proved to be too big in the end for Hyderabad as Gopal had India international Mohammed Siraj caught and bowled to wrap up the match.
Brief Scores
Group A
In Shimoga: Karnataka 183 and 332; Hyderabad 136 and 320 (BP Sandeep 80, Ashish Reddy 58 no, Shreyas Gopal 4/91, Krishnappa Gowtham 3/92). Karnataka won by 59 runs.

Points: Karnataka 6; Hyderabad 0.
In Guwahati: Assam 244 and 55 (Anureet Singh 5/28, Deepak Bansal 2/6). Railways 483/7 decl.
Railways won by an innings and 184 runs.
Points: Assam 0 Railways 7
In Lucknow:
Maharashtra 312 and 282/7 decl. Uttar Pradesh 271 and (target 324) 292 (Rinku Singh 122, Suresh Raina 5, Chirag Khurana 6/131). Maharashtra won by 31 runs.
Points: Maharashtra 6; UP 0.