T20: Robin Uthappa powers Karnataka to victory

Cuttack, Jan 8: Opener Robin Uthappa and Stuart Binny made short work of a modest chase to add to the team's bowling effort as Karnataka outplayed Odisha by six wickets in the Group D Twenty20 match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here today.

If medium-pacer Abhimanyu Mithun and leg-spinners Shreyas Gopal and KC Cariappa, sharing two wickets each, set up the win for Karnataka then the 53-run fourth-wicket partnership between Uthappa (48) and Binny (32 not out) helped the R Vinay Kumar-led side achieve the target in 17.5 overs.

Uthappa smashed six fours and a six in his 41-ball stay, while Binny's 30-ball knock was laced with two fours and a six.

Leg-spinner Tukuna Sahoo bagged two wickets, while Deepak Behera and Basant Mohanty picked up a wicket each.

Earlier put into bat, Odisha suffered from lack of partnerships against a disciplined Karnataka attack to stumble to 102 for seven in 20 overs. Abhishek Yadav top-scored with 31 runs as the rest of the batting disappointed.

Brief Scores: Odisha 102/7 in 20 overs (Abhishek Yadav 31, Biplab Samantray 19; Abhimanyu Mithun 2-13, Shreyas Gopal 2-15, KC Cariappa 2-14) Karnataka 106/4 in 17.5 overs (Robin Uthappa 48, Stuart Binny 32 not out; Tukuna Sahoo 2-17)

Points: Karnataka 4, Odisha 0.

PTI