Karnataka completes hattrick, wins Vijay Hazare Trophy

Karnataka completed a historic treble at domestic level by emerging champions in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a four-wicket win over Railways in yet another low-scoring affair at Eden Gardens here today.
Chasing 158, the Ranji and Irani Trophy champions had a jittery start after they lost five wickets in 26 runs to be 47/5 in the 12th over but sensible batting by youngsters Karun Nair (53 not out) and Lokesh Rahul (38) set up the chase with a 66-run partnership.
After Rahul's fall, 22-year-old Nair, who made the first-class debut this season, showed the right temperament as his unbeaten half-century, third in List A, saw the team through with seven overs to spare.

Despite the small total to defend, the Railways pacer duo of Anureet Singh and Krishna Kant Upadhyay did not give up their hope as they ripped apart the Karnataka top order bowling in tandem for 14 overs.
R Vinay Kumar promoted him to the crucial No 3, a move that faltered badly with Upadhyay (7-2-27-3) and Anureet (7-1-28-2) blazing all guns.
Having impressed behind the stumps, Lokesh Rahul was solid with his batting technique as well. The 21-year-old revived their chase with Karun Nair giving a fine company.

Rahul also had luck on his side as he survived a close lbw appeal before getting a reprieve on 23. The duo put on the match-turning 66-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Chanderpal Saini broke the partnership but Nair stood tall as he along with Kunal Kapoor (24 not out) took Karnataka to an unprecedented hattrick of titles in domestic cricket.
Earlier, No. 8 batsman Rongsen Jonathan topscored for Railways as his gritty 46 from 57 balls (3x4) helped them recover from being 83/7 to 157 all out in 47.4 overs after they were asked to bat on the Eden green top.
It was a pathetic display from the Railways top and middle-order batsmen until Jonathan's positive intent put them past 150.
First, he stitched a crucial 38-run eighth wicket stand from 60 balls with Amit Mishra, while with Anureet he added a brisk 34 from 35 balls to give the much-needed push to their total.