Bengaluru: Birthday boy Abhimanyu Mithun bagged a hat-trick as Karnataka thrashed Tamil Nadu by 60 runs (VJD method) to clinch Vijay Hazare Trophy final, here on Friday at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Batting first Tamil Nadu was bowled out for 252 with one ball to go, courtesy to a brilliant hat-trick by Mithun. Interestingly, Mithun has also become first Karnataka bowler to take a hat-trick in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Earlier, Manish Pandey won the toss and elected to field first. Abhimanyu Mithun, who was also the standout performer for his side, removed Murali Vijay for a duck to deny Tamil Nadu a good start.
R Ashwin was promoted up in the order following Vijay's departure, in place of Baba Aparajith. However, Dinesh Karthik and co's experiment with Ashwin went horribly wrong as he was sent back to the stands by V Koushik in 8th over.
Opener Abhinav Mukund along with Aparajith snitched a 124-run partnership for the third-wicket and put their side back into the game.
Mukund and Aparajith were also the top scorer for his side with their 85 and 66 runs knock respectively. However, after their dismissals, Tamil Nadu kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 252 runs.
Chasing the target, Karnataka were coasting at 146 for one in 23 overs when rain played spoilsport, interrupting play for almost 40 minutes.
The match was later called-off by the on-field umpires as they believed there wasn't enough time to complete the game.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu: 252 all out in 49.5 overs (Abhinav Mukund 85, Baba Aparajith 66; Abhimanyu Mithun 5/34).
Karnataka: 146 for one in 23 overs (Mayank Agarwal 69, KL Rahul 52; Washington Sundar 1/51).
Karnataka won by 60 runs via VJD method.
