Visakhapatnam: Karnataka posted a narrow two-run win over Hyderabad in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 South Zone tournament here on Thursday amid controversial circumstances.
Two runs were added to the Karnataka total, owing to an umpiring error, the margin by which Hyderabad lost eventually. This left the Hyderabad players fuming as they felt the late decision to revise the score resulted in a defeat.
Off the second over’s fourth ball, Hyderabad’s deep mid-wicket fielder Mehdi Hasan’s foot touched the ropes. Umpire Ulhas Gandhe had signalled two instead of a boundary to Karun Nair. Umpires Abhijit Deshmukh and Ulhas Gandhe didnt stop play for a review, but revised the score to 205 for 5 before Hyderabad began their chase.
Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar and his Hyderabad counterpart, A. T. Rayudu, both India cricketers, argued with umpires before Hyderabad’s innings began.
Rayudu took up the issue with the umpires at the end of the game. As he and the other team members entered the playing field and took up the grievance, the commencement of the next game between Andhra and Kerala was delayed.
Rayudu was quoted as saying that they never thought of stopping the second match and were only demanding a Super Over. “I’m sure of the rules. If he had changed (the decision) immediately then it would have been perfect,” he was quoted as telling reporters.
“We were playing for 204. We were waiting for the Super Over which never happened,” he said. Meanwhile, BCCI said it would take action as per its code of conduct after getting the Match Referee’s report. “The BCCI has taken cognisance of the events. An official report by the Match Referee is awaited, following which appropriate action as per BCCI’s Code of Conduct will be taken,” the Board said in a tweet.
Brief scores
Karnataka 205/5 in 20 overs (Karun Nair 77, K. Gowtham 57, Ravi Kiran 2/33, Mohammed Siraj 1/41, Mehdi Hasan 1/37) bt Hyderabad 203/9 in 20 overs (Akshath Reddy 70, Tanmay Agarwal 38, Bavanaka Sandeep 34, Stuart Binny 3/29, R. Vinay Kumar 1/37, S. Arvind 1/30, K. Gowtham 1/35).
Tamil Nadu 155/5 in 20 overs (Dinesh Karthik 56, Sanjay Yadav 28*, Amogh Desai 3/22) bt Goa 130/7 in 20 overs (Sagun Kamat 41, M. Ashwin 2/22, Washington Sundar 2/20).
Kerala 120 in 12 overs (Vishnu Vinod 45, Sanju Samson 32, M. Harishankar Reddy 4/2, Bandaru Ayyappa 3/32) lost to Andhra 126/4 in 13 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 64, G. H. Vihari 25, Basil Thampi 2/35).
