UP down Karnataka, notch up third straight win

Uttar Pradesh top-order made it count as they outplayed Karnataka by five wickets in the Group D Twenty20 cricket match to notch up their third straight win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here today.
Chasing 161 for a win at the DRIEMS Ground, Tangi, table-toppers UP rode on opener Prashant Gupta's quick fire 48 to achieve the target in 19.1 overs.
Gupta's 55-run opening stand with Samarth Singh (22) set up the 8 run per-over chase, while Suresh Raina (28) and skipper Eklavya Dwivedi (29 not out) also made key contributions to make the challenging target look easy.
Earlier electing to bat, Karnataka posted a respectable 160 for six in 20 overs with opener Mohammad Taha making a 40-ball 45.

Chidhambaram Gautam (24 not out) and Aniruddha Joshi (20 not out) also did their bit to put up a respectable score. Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets.
Karnataka lost their second match in the third outing to be placed fourth on the table.

Brief Scores:
Karnataka 160/6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Taha 45, Robin Uthappa 25; Piyush Chawla 2-24)
Uttar Pradesh 161/5 in 19.1 overs (Prashant Gupta 48, Eklavya Dwivedi 29 not out; R Vinay Kumar 1-26)
Points: Uttar Pradesh 4, Karnataka 0.