Ahmedabad, Dec 29 (NationPress) Wicketkeeper K.L. Shrijith and leg-spin bowling all-rounder Shreyas Gopal forged a decisive 116-run partnership for the fifth wicket, enabling the defending champions Karnataka to successfully chase down a target of 289 and defeat Tamil Nadu by six wickets with 17 balls to spare in their Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group A clash at the Gujarat College Stadium on Monday.

Initially struggling at 136/4, particularly with captain Mayank Agarwal scoring 58, Shrijith's impressive 77 and Gopal's solid 55 proved pivotal as they navigated the pitch with astute running and capitalized on loose deliveries.

Following their dismissals in quick succession, Abhinav Manohar remained not out at 20, while Vidyadhar Patil added 17 not out, steering Karnataka to victory with a flurry of boundaries. This win marked Karnataka's third consecutive triumph in the tournament.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu captain N. Jagadeesan scored a fluent 65, and Pradosh Ranjan Paul added 57, alongside R. Sai Kishore's 38, providing late momentum. However, Abhilash Shetty's exceptional bowling performance was crucial in bowling out Tamil Nadu for 288.

In another Group C match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Madhya Pradesh achieved their second consecutive win by restricting Kerala to just 167 runs, winning by 45 runs. Himanshu Mantri was the standout performer, scoring 93 runs off 105 balls, forming a vital 66-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Tripuresh Singh, who contributed 37.

On a pitch favoring spin, Kerala's batting faltered against Madhya Pradesh's spin bowlers, with Shubham Sharma claiming 3-16, and both Shivag Kumar and Saransh Jain taking two wickets each. N.M. Sharafuddeen's aggressive 42 at the end of the innings slightly mitigated Kerala's defeat.

Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 288 in 49.5 overs (N. Jagadeesan 65, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 57; Abhilash Shetty 4-57) lost to Karnataka 293/6 in 47.1 overs (K.L. Shrijith 77, Mayank Agarwal 58; Sunny Sandhu 1-25, Gurjapneet Singh 1-35) by four wickets.

Madhya Pradesh 214 in 46.1 overs (Himanshu Mantri 93, Tripuresh Singh 37; Ankit Sharma 4-38, B Aparajith 3-36) beat Kerala 167 in 40.1 overs (N.M. Sharafuddeen 42, Salman Nizar 30; Shubham Sharma 3-16, Saransh Jain 2-17) by 47 runs.

Jharkhand 368/7 in 50 overs (Kumar Kushagra 105, Anukul Roy 98 not out; Parth Vaghani 3-55) beat Pondicherry 235 in 41.4 overs (Jashwanth Shreeram 60, Neyan Kangayan 47; Rajan Deep 3-47, Sushant Mishra 2-23) by 133 runs.

Tripura 286 all out in 49.5 overs (Tejasvi Jaiswal 61, Sridam Paul 50; Aniket Choudhary 3-64, Khaleel Ahmed 2-51) beat Rajasthan 220 in 44.2 overs (Karan Lamba 61, Vijay Shankar 4-30) by 66 runs.