In a first, Delhi lose to Tripura by 12 runs, Padikkal ton in big Karnataka win

Delhi team's ongoing domestic season went from bad to worse as minnows Tripura shocked a team full of cash-rich IPL stars by 12 runs in a Group D match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Tuesday. Earlier this season in Ranji Trophy, Delhi were soundly thrashed by Jammu and Kashmir, another first in their list of ignominies accumulated over the past few seasons.

Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rohan Jaitley and secretary Ashok Sharma will have a lot of explaining to do with regards to team selection, choice of support staff, including appointment of Sarandeep Singh, who has proved to be quite a disaster.

In the case of Ranji Trophy, Delhi will need a miracle to reach the knock-outs this season even if they win their last two games outright.

In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, losing two out of four matches has left them in a precarious position.

Chasing a modest target of 158, Delhi's batters made a complete mess on a slowish track as they could never get going against Mani Shankar Murasingh's seam-up deliveries backed by Viki Saha's accurate off-breaks and were restricted to 145 for 8.

Little known all-rounder Murasingh, who has been quietly slogging for a decade at the first-class level, finally had his moment of glory, getting Punjab Kings and India A batter Priyansh Arya out early in the innings. He first scored 18-ball-25 not out, which included a six and a four in the 20th over bowled by Ayush Badoni, and backed it up with 2 for 19 in four overs with 14 dot balls. Murasingh, fondly called ''Ben Stokes of Tripura'' by his teammates, mostly bowled slow off-cutters and pace-off deliveries on a slightly tacky pitch stopping IPL stars like Delhi skipper Nitish Rana (45 off 40 balls), Ayush Badoni (14 off 13 balls) and Priyansh (8 off 10 balls) on their tracks.

Viki shortened the length of his delivery to draw former KKR skipper out of his crease and got the off-break to turn enough for keeper Sentu Sarkar to complete a neat stumping.

Karnataka crush TN by 145 runs, courtesy Padikkal ton ================================== In another Group D game, Karnataka rode on Devdutt Padikkal's unbeaten 46-ball-102 to comfortably outclass Tamil Nadu by 145 runs.

Padikkal hit 10 fours and six sixes while BR Sharath (53 off 24 balls) and Ravichandran Smaran (46 not out off 29 balls) also played their part in a commanding total of 245 for 3. India's T20 specialist Varun Chakravarthy, for a change, was clobbered for 47 in four wicketless overs.

The chase was out of question and Tamil Nadu were bowled out for a meagre 100 in just 14.2 overs with veteran leg-spinners Shreyas Gopal and Praveen Dubey claiming three wickets apiece.

Brief Scores: Tripura 157/5 in 20 overs (Mani Shankar Murasingh 25 not out, Suyash Sharma 2/16, Digvesh Rathi 2/34) vs Delhi 145/8 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 45, Mani Shankar Murasingh 2/19). Tripura won by 12 runs.

Karnataka 245/3 in 20 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 102 not out, BR Sharath 53, R Smaran 46 not out, Sonu Yadav 2/34) vs Tamil Nadu 100 in 14.2 overs (Tushar Raheja 29, Shreyas Gopal 3/21, Praveen Dubey 3/15). Karnataka won by 145 runs.

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