Karnataka handed out Delhi a crushing defeat and registered their fifth win in eight Ranji Trophy matches on the fourth and final day of their last group league tie at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium here on Thursday.
Resuming the day on 132 for 6, Delhi could only reach 201, one short of their first innings score, in the second innings. Overnight batsman Milind Kumar, who had a stiff neck, remained unbeaten on 31.
Requiring 114 to win, Karnataka batsmen completed the formalities at the loss of first innings centurion and Man of the Match Karun Nair (8) and upcoming all-rounder Ravikumar Samarth (20) in 28.1 overs. Opener Mayank Aggarwal, who remained unbeaten on 68 (96 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes), clobbered Delhi spinners and helped his side finish off the match well before Tea.
Karnataka was already assured of their place in the quarterfinals and even rested some of their key players for this match, yet the attitude, intensity and determination with which they played in this match speak volumes about the quality of their squad.
“We are a very good side. All the youngsters are matured enough to understand their roles and executed them very well throughout the league stage. It’s very difficult for us to choose 11 out of 15 because they all are good,” Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar said after his team finished the league round unbeaten.
However, same can't be said about the Delhi side. They rarely played quality cricket. Though the team management blamed it on luck as their match against Jharkhand got washed out and in another one against Mumbai they missed three points in the first innings as both teams ended on the same score, their performance in the remaining matches don't concur with their argument.
What has been more frustrating for Delhi was that they couldn’t qualify despite having the services of senior players like Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Throughout the season, all sorts of demands, including support staff, ground and players, that Gambhir had as captain were fulfilled by the selectors but the outcome wasn’t satisfactory and that might raise several uncomfortable questions over Gambhir’s captaincy.
With this win, Karnataka (38 points) have maintained their position at the top of the Group A points table while Delhi finished their season at fifth place and failed to qualify for the knockouts for the fourth successive year.
Brief Scores
Delhi: 202 and 201 (Virender Sehwag 11, Gautam Gambhir 26, Mithun Manhas 32, Milind Kumar 31 not out; HS Sharath 3/35, Ronit More 3/39, Shreyas Gopal 3/23) lost to Karnataka: 289 and 115/2 (Mayank Agarwal 68 not out) by 8 wickets.