Visakhapatnam, Jan 11:
Karnataka posted a narrow two run win over Hyderabad in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 South Zone tournament here today amid controversial circumstances.
Two runs were added to the Karnataka total, owing to an umpiring error, the margin by which Hyderabad lost eventually.
This left the Hyderabad players fuming as they felt the late decision to revise the score resulted in a defeat.
Off the second over’s fourth ball, Hyderabad’s deep mid-wicket fielder Mehdi Hasan’s foot touched the ropes.
Umpire Ulhas Gandhe had signalled two instead of a boundary to Karun Nair.
Umpires Abhijit Deshmukh and Ulhas Gandhe didn’t stop play for a review, but revised the score to 205 for 5 before Hyderabad began their chase.
Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar and his Hyderabad counterpart, Ambati Rayudu, both India cricketers, argued with the umpires before the Hyderabad innings began.
Hyderabad captain Ambati Rayudu took up the issue with the umpires at the end of the game.
As he and the other team members entered the playing field and took up the grievance, the commencement of the next game between Andhra and Kerala was delayed.
Rayudu was quoted as saying that they never thought of stopping the second match and were only demanding a Super Over.
“I’m sure of the rules. If he had changed (the decision) immediately then it would have been perfect,” he was quoted as telling reporters by ESPNCricinfo.Com.
“Even if somebody gets out and you come inside and see that it’s not out, you don’t call the person back.Even in case of a no-ball not correctly called, you cannot call somebody back or add the scores.”
“I don’t know what has happened but we were playing for 204. That is exactly what I wanted to tell and we were waiting for the Super Over which never happened,” he had said.
Reports quoted Karnataka team officials as saying that the players took up the matter with the third umpire, who in turn alerted the onfield umpire Ulhas Gandhe.
However, due to a communication gap between the umpires and the scorers, the change was not made immediately.
Meanwhile, BCCI said it would take action as per it’s code of conduct after getting the match referee’s report.
“The BCCI has taken cognizance of the events that unfolded during and after the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 match today between Hyderabad-Karnataka.”
“An official report by the Match Referee is awaited, following which appropriate action as per BCCI’s Code of Conduct will be taken,” the Board said in a tweet.
Meanwhile in nearby Vizianagaram, Tamil Nadu defeated Goa by 25 runs today to register its third straight win in the tournament.
Dinesh Karthik (56) scored his third half-century on the trot to star with the bat again as Tamil Nadu posted 155 for 5 in its quota of 50 overs before restricting Goa to 130 for 7.
Skipper Vijay Shankar returned to the side after missing the first two games owing to injury concerns, but couldn’t do much with the bat, falling for four to Amogh Desai.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, Tamil Nadu lost M S Washington Sundar (14) at 29, not before he had hit two boundaries and a six.
Karthik, who has been in superb form, got into the act quickly and hit shots all round the wicket.
He smashed six fours and a sixer before falling in the 15th over.
Though Abhinav Mukund (12) and Shankar fell in quick succession, Karthik found an able partner in B Aparajith (26).
The two added 54 runs in just about seven overs.
Some lusty blows by R Sanjay Yadav (28 not out, 20 balls, 1X4, 2X6) and N Jagadeesan (10 not out, 1X6) helped swell the total to 155.
Goa’s chase was stifled by the loss of wickets at regular intervals with none of the batsmen being able to get a big score.
Skipper Sagun Kamat made the top-score of 41 but tight bowling by the Tamil Nadu bowlers made things difficult.
Leg-spinner M Ashwin, who kept things tight in the middle along with offie Washington Sundar, picked up two wickets each while left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore bowled just one over to scalp one victim.
Medium-pacers K Vignesh and Athisayaraj Davidson got a wicket apiece.
Brief scores: At Vizianagaram: Tamil Nadu 155 for 5 in 20 overs (Dinesh Karthik 56, Sanjay Yadav 28 not out, Amogh Desai 3 for 22) beat Goa 130 for 7 in 20 overs (Sagun Kamat 41, M Ashwin 2 for 22, Washington Sundar 2 for 20).
Points: TN: 4; Goa: 0.
At Visakhapatnam: Karnataka 205 for 5 in 20 overs (Karun Nair 77, K Gowtham 57, Ravi Kiran 2 for 33) beat Hyderabad 203 for 9 in 20 overs (Akshath Reddy 70, Tanmay Agarwal 38, Bavanaka Sandeep 34, Stuart Binny 3 for 29).
Points: Karnataka: 4; Hyderabad: 0.
Kerala 120 all out in 12 overs (Vishnu Vinod 45, Sanju Samson 32, M Harishankar Reddy 4 for 2, Bandaru Ayyappa 3 for 32) lost to Andhra 126 for 4 in 13 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 64, G H Vihari 25, Basil Thampi 2 for 35).
Points: Andhra: 4; Kerala: 0. PTI
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