MS Dhoni Fails to Finish as Jharkhand Go Down to Karnataka

• Karnataka: 266 in 49.4 overs (Manish Pandey 77, Ravikumar Samarth 71; Rahul Shukla 4/45) vs
  
• Jharkhand: 261 in 49.5 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 68, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 43, K Gowtham 4/58)
  

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 50-ball 43 and his 81-run partnership with Saurabh Tiwary proved a trifle short as a fighting Jharkhand went down by five runs to Karnataka in a Group D tie of the Vijay Hazare Trophy cricket championship. (Also Read: Of Train Rides & Old Mates: MS Dhoni’s Jharkhand Stint in Pics)

Jharkhand's innings folded up for 261 in 49.5 overs in reply to Karnataka's 266 all out in 49.4 overs at the Eden Gardens.

Powered by a 95-ball 77 from Manish Pandey and a 93-ball 71 from Ravikumar Samarth, Karnataka set Jharkhand a target of 267.

Pandey and Samarth were involved in a 140-ball 116-run stand for the third wicket that came to an end when the latter was caught and bowled by medium-pacer Anand Singh.

Pandey and Pavan Deshpande (36) then added another 57 runs for the fourth wicket, but just when Karnatak a looked set for a total close to 300, Karnataka began losing wickets in a heap. From 224/3 in the 43rd over, the Karnataka essay came to an end adding only 42 more runs. For Jharkhand, pacer Rahul Shukla (4/45) was the most successful bowler.

In reply, Jharkhand lost Anand Singh and Virat Singh early, before Ishan Kishan and Ishank Jaggi tried to repair the damage by stitching together a 58-run stand.

Dhoni joined Tiwary in the middle in the 20th over at 79/4, and hit two towering sixes besides picking up five boundaries during his knock that ended in the 37th over when medium pacer T. Pradeep shattered his stumps.

Tiwary (68) fell a little later, and despite a spirited fight, the later order failed to overhaul the opponent total.

Karnataka off-spinner K. Gowtham registered figures of 4/58.