MUMBAI: The end was hardly surprising and did not carry the din of success that usually accompanies a title triumph. And as much as it had to do with Karnataka’s confidence and class, it was also about Tamil Nadu’s belated resistance and battle for pride.
That’s what Karnataka had reduced the honours to. The prize, the shiny silver Ranji Trophy, was off the table since the third afternoon.
Tamil Nadu’s Malolan Rangarajan edged Sreenath Aarvind to wide slip, a dismissal that unfortunately was all too reminiscent of the first-day collapse, to bring the curtains down. With Prasanth Parmeswaran out with injury, their rallying effort ended at 411 for nine.
The Karnataka players were off in the flash, running in all directions, uprooting stumps, pocketing bails and embracing each other. They beat Tamil Nadu by an innings and 217 runs in the final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, asserting their utter dominance over their opponents, which had started with dismissing Tamil Nadu for 134 runs on the opening day.
It was the eighth time that Karnataka had won the trophy, breaking their tie of seven with Delhi to become the second-most successful domestic side in India.
More importantly, they had defended their title and stretched their unbeaten streak to 28 matches. “All credit to the boys. I am not going for forget this game,” said Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar, who missed out on becoming the highest Ranji wicket-taker this season.
He finished at 48 wickets, a joint pole position with Mumbai’s Shardul Thakur. “It is (the result of) many years of hard work. When we lost to Mumbai in Mysore (in 2012), we were growing up as a team. Next season, we returned more mature and confident. Everything came good and winning the trophy really helped us to motivate ourselves,” he added.
However, Vinay Kumar and his band of bowlers met with belated doggedness from Tamil Nadu’s middle-order, who tried hard to play out a draw and deny Karnataka an outright win. Vijay Shankar and Dinesh Karthik led the defence and went on to score hundreds. But a draw still proved elusive.
Scoreboard
Tamil Nadu 1st Innings 134
Karnataka 1st Innings 762
Tamil Nadu 2nd Innings (Overnight 113/3): B Aparajith c Uthappa b Aravind 68, V Shankar c & b Vinay Kumar 103, D Karthik c Aravind b Gopal 120, R Prasanna c Pandey b Sharath 8, M Rangarajan c Pandey b Aravind 33, A Aswin Crist st Uthappa b Gopal 0, L Balaji 5 no, P Parameswaran absent hurt. Extras (b 3, lb 6, w 5, nb 2) 16. Total (all out; 107.5 ovs) 411. Fall of wickets: 191/4, 306/5, 344/6, 379/7, 411/9. Bowling: A Mithun 18-2-84-0, H Sharath 20-4-77-1, S Aravind 21.5-6-52-2, S Gopal 25-4-126-4, R Vinay Kumar 21-8-43-2, R Samarth 2-0-20-0.
Tamil Nadu 1st Innings 134
Karnataka 1st Innings 762
Tamil Nadu 2nd Innings (Overnight 113/3): B Aparajith c Uthappa b Aravind 68, V Shankar c & b Vinay Kumar 103, D Karthik c Aravind b Gopal 120, R Prasanna c Pandey b Sharath 8, M Rangarajan c Pandey b Aravind 33, A Aswin Crist st Uthappa b Gopal 0, L Balaji 5 no, P Parameswaran absent hurt. Extras (b 3, lb 6, w 5, nb 2) 16. Total (all out; 107.5 ovs) 411. Fall of wickets: 191/4, 306/5, 344/6, 379/7, 411/9. Bowling: A Mithun 18-2-84-0, H Sharath 20-4-77-1, S Aravind 21.5-6-52-2, S Gopal 25-4-126-4, R Vinay Kumar 21-8-43-2, R Samarth 2-0-20-0.