Meriwala takes career-best 5/21 in Baroda's win over Karnataka

Pacer Lukman Meriwala wreaked havoc with a career-best figures of 5 for 21 as Baroda beat Karnataka by 14 runs in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy encounter here on Saturday.

Baroda set a mammoth 197-run target on the back of contributions from skipper Kedar Devdhar (52), Swapnil Singh (36) and Vishnu Solanki (35 not out) before their bowlers led by Meriwala sealed the victory.

Meriwala alongside medium pacer Atit Sheth (2/50) accounted for seven of the Karnataka's eight wickets.

Chasing 197 in the Group A match, Karnataka started off well with Rohan Kadam (57) and Luvinth Sisodia (38) putting up a 53-run opening stand before the latter was dismissed by Sheth.

Devdutt Padikkal followed Sisodia to the pavilion soon after. Kadam and captain Karun Nair (47) then steadied the ship with a 86 run stand.

However, once the skipper departed in the 16th over the Karnataka middle and lower buckled under pressure falling 14 runs short of the target at the end of the stipulated 20 overs.

In the other Group A match Goa, riding on half centuries by opener Aditya Kaushik (53) and Snehal Kauthaankar (55) beat Bihar by 29 runs in a high scoring encounter.

Brief Scores: Baroda 196 for 4 in 20 overs (Kedar Devdhar 52; Krishnappa Gowtham 2/22) beat Karnataka 182 for 9 in 20 overs (Rohan Kadam 57 ;Lukman Meriwala 2/21) by 14 runs.