Bengaluru: Karnataka on Saturday showed why they are a champion side as they outplayed a young Mumbai team by 112 runs to enter the final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament.
Batting first, Karnataka scored 202 all out in their first innings and then bundled out Mumbai for a paltry 44, which was their second lowest total in the history of Ranji Trophy tournament.
Having taken a huge 158-run lead, Karnataka were all out for 286 in their second innings to set Mumbai a target of 445 to qualify for the final.
Resuming at 277 for six today, Mumbai's quest for chasing the remaining 168 runs vanished after Balwinder Singh Sandhu (5) and Shardul Thakur (13) were removed by pacer Abhimanyu Mithun and leggie Shreyas Gopal, respectively, here at Chinnaswamy stadium.
Mithun turned out to be the star performer for Karnataka as he picked up four wickets and scored a match-winning 89 runs in the second innings. Captain R Vinay Kumar, who was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match for his six for 20 effort that helped Karnataka skittle Mumbai 44 all out in their first innings, praised his team-mates for delivering at right occasions.
(Photo: PTI)
"We have shown that we can bat till No.11 and I am happy with the attitude we showed despite being all out for 202 in the first innings," Vinay said.
However, Vinay admitted that the hosts' batting has not been consistent. "Yes, there are a few areas we need to improve. We have to come together as a batting unit," he said.
The seven-time Ranji winners -- Karnataka -- will not meet either Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra in the final, to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from March 8-12.
