Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mayank Agarwal pleased with Karnataka’s ‘all-round performance’ in win over TN

After savouring the win from another clinical chase, Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal termed it as the best all round performance from his side in this tournament.

The captain was mighty pleased with the efforts of the bowlers, especially the spinners Sreesha S. Achar and Shreyas Gopal in restricting Tamil Nadu to 288.

The skipper said he never felt his team was under pressure even though Tamil Nadu put the champion in a spot of bother at 136 for four. “We bat deep so I wasn’t worried when we were four down. Shrijith and Shreyas played as the situation demanded and what was expected of them. But I must give credit to spinners Achar and Shreyas, they bowled really well in the middle overs. Abhilash Shetty was superb at the death. It was a perfect team win,’’ said Mayank.

Wicketkeeper batter K.L. Shrijith, who played a crucial knock of 77, said the plan was to rotate the strike and wait for loose balls to hit the big shots. The Tamil Nadu bowlers obliged by feeding bad deliveries regularly.

Shrijith said he enjoyed batting with Shreyas who also played with a similar mindset. “We both play similarly and I enjoyed batting with him (Shreyas). The plan was to pinch singles, play the odd big shots, and keep the target within 70 runs in the final 10 overs. We were able to execute that to perfection,’’ said the wicketkeeper-batter.