SMAT | Murasingh’s all-round show helps Tripura pip Karnataka

Thanks to skipper Manisankar Murasingh’s all-round brilliance (69 and two for 30), Tripura first forced a tie against Karnataka and then edged it out in the Super Over in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Elite Group D seventh-round clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium B-Ground here on Monday.

With 10 needed off the last three balls in a 198-run chase, Murasingh (69, 35b, 2×4, 6×6) launched Vidyadhar Patil for a towering six over midwicket, stole two off the next, and then drilled the final ball wide of deep midwicket before tearing back for the second. The throw came in and the referral went upstairs — a brief wait, and then the red light flashed.

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Vidyadhar Patil bowled the Super Over for Karnataka. Murasingh began with a crunching four through midwicket, followed by a single. Sridam Paul then chanced his arm and was dropped at deep midwicket while coming back for two, before picking up another brace. Patil’s attempted yorker turned into a full toss and Sridam dispatched it over deep backward square for six, and he followed it up with a clean strike over long-off for another six. A wide along the way only added to Karnataka’s woes.

And then it was Murasingh’s turn with the ball, tasked with defending 22. The over began with Abhinav Manohar pulling him for a six over deep midwicket, followed by back-to-back wides. A miscued hit was then put down at short third, allowing a single. R. Smaran edged a short and wide delivery to backward point without scoring before Macneil Noronha drove through extra cover for a four. A pinpoint yorker yielded just a single, and Abhinav edged one past the keeper for another boundary. Karnataka finished with 18 for one.

In the clash of the table-toppers, Jharkhand trumped Rajasthan by 36 runs to remain unbeaten. Virat Singh (69, 36b, 4×4, 5×6) added 123 off 69 balls for the second-wicket stand with Kumar Kushagra (55, 37b, 4×4, 3×6) as Jharkhand posted 215 for five. Robin Minz provided the late flourish with a 27-ball 58 (8×4, 2×6).

Sai Sudharsan’s unbeaten 55-ball 101 (10×4, 4×6) took Tamil Nadu home against Saurashtra.

Chasing 184, Tamil Nadu won by three wickets with eight balls to spare.

The scores: Delhi 162/7 in 20 overs (Yash Dhull 52, Nitish Rana 51) bt Uttarakhand 144/7 in 20 overs (Prashant Chopra 54, Aarav Mahajan 33).

Jharkhand 215/5 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 69, Kumar Kushagra 55, Robin Minz 58) bt Rajasthan 179 in 19.2 overs (Karan Lamba 52, Sushant Mishra 3/21, Anukul Roy 3/37).\

Karnataka 197/6 in 20 overs (B.R. Sharath 44, Devdutt Padikkal 32, Macneil Noronha 34) tied with Tripura 197/8 in 20 overs (Hanuma Vihari 36, Manisankar Murasingh 69); Super Over: Tripura 22/0 bt Karnataka 18/1.

Saurashtra 183/7 in 20 overs (Vishvaraj Jadeja 70, Sammar Gajjar 66, R. Silambarasan 3/30) lost to Tamil Nadu 185/7 in 18.4 overs (B. Sai Sudharsan 101 n.o., Sunny Sandhu 30, Jaydev Unadkat 3/30).