Kaif shines for UP

Riding on Mohammad Kaif's 70-run knock, Uttar Pradesh today got the better of Karnataka by 10 runs in a Super League (Group B) match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament here.
Kaif smashed his way to 54-ball 70 laced with three fours and four sixes to take UP to a competitive 163 for seven in their allotted 20 overs.
Chasing the target, Karnataka batsmen fought hard but fell short at the end, reaching 153 for eight.
Put in to bat by Karnataka, UP lost opener Prashant Gupta (4) early but Kaif made sure that held on firmly to one end of the wicket.

Even as wickets fell at the other end, Kaif played a responsible knock. He was ably supported by Gaurav Tomar (25), Tanmay Srivastava (22) for brief periods.
In reply, Karnataka got off to a poor start to be struggling at 31 for three.

Although the middle order -- K Lokesh (34), Stuart Binny (39) and Karun Nair (29) -- consolidated the innings, the tail crumbled under pressure to fell short by 10 runs.
In a Super League-A match between Vidarbha and Kerala, Kerala won by one wicket (with 3 balls remaining) via VJD method.
After Vidarbha scored 138 for five in 19 overs, Kerala managed to reach 111 for nine in 12.3 overs to emerge victorious in a rain-curtailed match.

For Vidarbha, Amol Ubarhande top scored with 55, while RV Gomez remained unbeaten on 42 for Kerala.