Skipper Manish Pandey led from the front with a sublime half-century before the bowlers produced a team effort to help Karnataka become the first team to retain the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy since its inception. They beat Tamil Nadu by one run in a thrilling final at Surat on Sunday.
Sent into bat, Karnataka made a challenging 180/5, riding on skipper Manish Pandey’s 45-ball unbeaten 60 and useful contribution from Rohan Kadam (35), Devdutt Padikkal (32) and KL Rahul (22).
In reply, all Tamil Nadu batsmen got off to starts but failed to make them count. All-rounder Vijay Shankar top-scored with a 44 off 27 balls while Baba Aparajith made 40 off 25 balls. The duo shared 71 runs for the fifth wicket to give Tamil Nadu a glimmer of hope.
After Aparajith’s dismissal, Shankar and Ravichandran Ashwin (16 not out) kept Tamil Nadu in the hunt but they fell just short of the target in the end as Karnataka’s bowlers dished out a fine death over bowling display to restrict the opposition to 179 for six in their 20 overs.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the thrilling game:
Here is the drama of last over.... pic.twitter.com/JXqt19TrE9
— Aarenn (@KarnatakaCrickt) December 1, 2019
You’ll never be the best copy cat but you’ll always be the best you #champions #syedmushtaqalitrophy #riseandgrind pic.twitter.com/yN2J78rBbz
— Krishnappa Gowtham (@gowthamyadav88) December 1, 2019
KARNATAKA - SYED MUSHTAQ ALI TROPHY CHAMPIONS 2019-20. [PC: KSCA] pic.twitter.com/ZiVJdDC8nd
— Karnataka Ranji Team║ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಣಜಿ ತಂಡ (@RanjiKarnataka) December 1, 2019
What a game of cricket !!!! Having right fielder at right position !!! How good was that throw from Manish 👌🏽👌🏽 #teamkarnataka https://t.co/j6U5sP2b1M
— Veda Krishnamurthy (@vedakmurthy08) December 1, 2019
Congratulations boys on winning Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 🏆🏆 2 in 2. Really proud of you guys 👏👏 @im_manishpandey @BCCIdomestic #SyedMushtaqAliTrophy #KARvTN #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/NLF4oQPJZv
— Vinay Kumar R (@Vinay_Kumar_R) December 2, 2019
Here is the winning Moment 😍🏆#MushtaqAliT20 #Karnataka #KLRahul @RanjiKarnataka @klrahul11 pic.twitter.com/uiw1Lseln4
— KL Rahul FC (@KLRahul_Club) December 2, 2019
Unbelievable game of cricket #KARvTN , congratulations to the Karnataka side for being amazing throughout the white ball leg. We, Tamil Nadu are very proud of the shift we have made in our cricket. #TNvKAR
— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) December 1, 2019
The range of emotions #Ashwin went through today, well, I have never seen that in his entire international career.
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) December 1, 2019
The quality of Indian domestic cricket will improve automatically if the stars are emotionally invested in this.#syedmushtaqalitrophy#TNvsKAR#KARvTN
Ashwin done a Mushfiqur today. Never celebrate before you win. Proved again today #KARvTN #SMAT #karnataka pic.twitter.com/EX5dTNXk5L
— Advaitha Bhushan (@Noddy62088312) December 1, 2019
Not that it matterd in the end but liked Ashwin taking off his pads for the last ball. Good thinking
— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) December 1, 2019
ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED. Jee, that hurts. Twice in the same year, CSK & now TN end up 1 run short in the final. But ahat a fantastic game & a great advertisement for premier domestic cricket in India. Highest quality of cricket played by Karnataka & TN. Still, absolutely gutted.
— Srini Mama (@SriniMaama16) December 1, 2019
Karnataka dominating all the domestic tournaments in the last 5 or 6 years, the only thing they lack is their players not getting a permanent spot in the Indian team. Agarwal in tests and KL Rahul in T20 exceptions.
— Johns (@CricCrazyJohns) December 1, 2019
Congratulations to Team Karnataka what a superlative effort by the boys who are second to none..... not surprising at all.... seen many of them grow from strength to strength from 12 years to conquer th world soooo proud
— GK Anil Kumar (@anilkumar_gk) December 1, 2019