Karnataka thrashed minnows Mizoram by 137 runs to cruise to their fourth win on the trot and consolidate the position atop Group D in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament here Monday.
Opting to bat, Karnataka toyed with the Mizoram attack to post a huge 242/4 in the stipulated 20 overs.
In reply, Mizoram were restricted to 105/6 with leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal claiming 4 for 8 from his four overs to hand his team a simple win at the Barabati Stadium.
Karnataka have 16 points from four matches, four points clear of Assam, who jumped to second spot following their stunning 26-run win over former champions Bengal at the Barabati Stadium.
At the DRIEMS Ground in Tangi on the outskirts of Cuttack, it was mayhem by the Karnataka batsmen.
First, Rohan Kadam (78 from 51 balls; 6x4, 3x6) and Mayank Agarwal (20 from 14 balls; 3x4) put on a 52-run opening stand in just 4.2 overs.
After Agarwal departed, Karun Nair joined the party and plundered 71 off just 33 balls, smashing five sixes and an equal number of boundaries to set the tone.
Later skipper Manish Pandey struck 33 not out from 13 balls (3x4, 1x6) with Jagadeesha Suchith also finishing on a high with his eight ball 26 not out (3x4, 2x6).
At the Barabati Stadium, Sibsankar Roy hit a brilliant 83 off 53 balls (12x4, 1x6) to help Assam recover from 10/2 inside third over, following Ashok Dinda's double blow in successive overs.
Roy was eventually run out by Abhimanyu Easwaran but Riyan Parag's quickfire 52 from 47 balls ensured Assam reach a competitive 162/5.
Dinda finished with impressive figures of 4/17 but that did not help the cause as Bengal put up yet another sloppy batting display to suffer their second defeat.
Brief Scores:
At Barabati Stadium: Arunachal Pradesh 75 in 19.4 overs (Debabrata Pradhan 3/10, Rajesh Mohanty 2/17, Biplab Samantray 2/6) lost to Odisha 76/2 in 13.1 overs (Abhishek Raut 41 not out) by eight wickets.
Assam 162/5; 20 overs (Sibsankar Roy 83, Riyan Parag 52; Ashok Dinda 4/17) beat Bengal 136/9; 20 overs (Shreevats Goswami 43; Abu Nechim 2/25, Mukhtar Hussain 2/32) by 26 runs.
At DRIEMS Ground, Tangi: Karnataka 242/4; 20 overs (Rohan Kadam 78, Karun Nair 71; HM Ralte 2/48) beat Mizoram 105/6; 20 overs (Akhil Rajput 41; Shreyas Gopal 4/8) by 137 runs.
Haryana 210/5; 20 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 65 not out, Rahul Tewatia 59 not out, Sumit Kumar 43; Shakeeb Ahmed 2/39) lost to Chhattisgarh 211/5; 20 overs (Rishabh Tiwari 62, Amandeep Khare 60, Harpeet Singh 49) by five wickets.
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