The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Kaarthick stars in TN's victory

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Tuesday, Jan 11, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Kaarthick stars in TN's victory

By Our Sports Reporter

PANAJI, JAN. 10. Dinesh Kaarthick set ablaze the Panjim Gymkhana Ground with a blistering 72 on Monday.

Kaarthick capitalised on the good start secured by the Tamil Nadu top-order and his knock (72, 51b, 6 x 4, 3 x 6) ensured enough runs for the bowlers to put pressure on Karnataka and eventually carve out an 82-run victory in a Subbaiah Pillai Trophy South Zone limited overs tournament match that proved to be a lopsided contest.

Tamil Nadu scored 278 for four in 50 overs and bowled out Karnataka for 196 in 45.5 overs. Tamil Nadu skipper S. Sriram was ruled out due to a split webbing on his right palm but stand-in captain S. Badrinath had no reason to worry as the openers scored Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (56) and Aniruddha Srikkanth (20) in their 40-run partnership off 7.1 overs.

Aniruddha's two disdainfully pulled sixers of Dodda Ganesh set the aggressive tone for his team-mates.

Southpaw Vidyut also got into the act with a few flicks down fine leg and soon he was waltzing past the cover region with drives and slashes.

Meanwhile skipper S. Badrinath dropped anchor and rotated the strike in a 77-run second-wicket partnership with Vidyut. The duo's dismissals ushered in Kaarthick and veteran S. Sharath (59 n.o.) to the crease and the two players were involved in a 110-run fourth-wicket partnership.

Kaarthick toyed with a clueless Karnataka attack with an array of shots. Sunil Joshi's flighted delivery was smashed into the sightscreen, N.C. Aiyappa was pulled over mid-wicket, B. Akhil was scooped over point and Kaarthick continued to pump the adrenaline while Sharath stole his singles before carving out fours with cuts and pulls. Kaarthick got out while attempting to flick Joshi but with next man Hemant Kumar striking two towering sixers, Tamil Nadu left Karnataka staring at an asking rate of 5.54 which kept increasing later in the afternoon.

The chase never happened despite Kaarthick dropping Barrington off Jesuraj and Robin indulging in a few crisp drives. Robin miscued his slash off Jesuraj and the seamer struck again by trapping Stuart Binny for a blob. Barrington too fell while attempting to sweep left-arm spinner Ram Kumar and Karnataka never recovered from 44 for three in 10 overs. Tamil Nadu gained five points, inclusive of a bonus point, to nudge its tally to 10 from two matches while Karnataka suffered a negative point for conceding the bonus point and now has three from two outings.

On a near perfect day for Tamil Nadu, the only bad news was Siva Kumar's injury on the field. Siva Kumar twisted his ankle and has been ruled out for five to six weeks. Ganapathy and Sunil Viswanathan will step in as replacements for Siva Kumar and Sriram.

Goa, Kerala win

In the other matches at Madgaon, minnows upset the fancied teams as skipper Swapnil Asnodkar's 120 (129b, 8 x 4, 7 x 6) set the base for Goa's 14-run victory over Andhra, while Kerala skipper Sree Kumar Nair's patient 60 (85b, 1 x 4) secured his team's five-wicket victory over Hyderabad.

Tuesday is a rest day.

Wednesday's matches: Tamil Nadu vs Hyderabad, Karnataka vs Andhra and Kerala vs Goa.

The scores:

At Panjim Gymkhana, Panaji: TN 278 for four in 50 overs (Dinesh Kaarthick 72, S. Sharath 59 n.o., Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan 56) bt Karnataka 196 in 45.5 overs. TN 5pts, Kar (-1).

At MCC, Madgaon: Goa 217 in 50 overs (Swapnil Asnodkar 120, Bala Saraswathy Reddy five for 16) bt Andhra 203 in 47.5 overs (M.S.K. Prasad 75, Faisal Ahmed 42). Goa 4, Andhra 0.

At Arlem, Madgaon: Hyderabad 166 for nine in 42 overs (Anirudh Singh 61 n.o., A.T. Rayudu 50) lost to Kerala 170 for five in 39.3 overs (S.K. Nair 60). Ker 4, Hyd 0.

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