Mayank Agarwal powers Karnataka to maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali title

Karnataka overhauled the 156-run target with Mayank Agarwal (85 off 57 balls) and Rohan Kadam (60 off 39 balls) striking half-centuries.

Opener Mayank Agarwal smashed an unbeaten 85 off 57 balls to lead Karnataka to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a comprehensive five-wicket win against Maharashtra in the final at Indore on Thursday.

With this victory (14^th), Karnataka also equalled Kolkata Knight Riders’ record for the longest winning streak in T20s by an Indian side.  

Karnataka overhauled the 156-run target with Agarwal and Rohan Kadam (60 off 39 balls) striking half-centuries.

Karnataka chased the target with nine balls to spare and ended their otherwise ordinary season on a high.

Karnataka lost opener B R Sharath (2) in the third over after left-arm medium pacer Samad Fallah cleaned him up. 

Then in-form Kadam and Agarwal steadied the ship, as Karnataka raced to 45/1 in five overs.

The duo kept on scoring at a brisk pace and took a listless Maharashtra attack to cleaners in their 92-run stand for the second wicket, which laid the foundation of the eight-wicket win.

Karnataka were cruising at 106/1 in 12 overs and needed 50 runs. But then Kadam threw his wicket away. However, Kadam's departure did not deter Agarwal from playing his natural game as he and Karun Nair (8 not out) then took the side home.

Put into bat, Maharashtra posted a respectable 155/4 on the board courtesy Shaikh's unbeaten 69 off 41 balls.

Shaikh along with 'ever-reliable' Ankit Bawne (29 off 25 balls) rallied the Maharashtra innings with their 81-run stand for the fourth wicket after the Surendra Bhave coached team was in a spot of bother at 55-3.

Earlier, openers Rahul Tripathi (30 off 32 balls) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (12) gave Maharashtra a brisk start by scoring 35 inside the first five overs.

But it was pacer Abhimanyu Mithun, who gave Karnataka the much needed breakthrough by removing Gaikwad.

One down, Vijay Zol (8) also fell cheaply after being stumped by stumper Sharath off J Suchith.

Triphathi was the third Maharashtra batsman to walk back to the pavilion with Maharashtra in deep trouble at 55-3.

Then Shaikh and Bawne not only took the opposition bowlers to task, but also in the process pulled the team out of trouble. Shaikh struck five fours and three sixes, while Bawne hammered four boundaries.

The loss Meant that Maharashtra will have to wait longer for a major Domestic title.

Brief Scores: Maharashtra 155/4 ( Naushad Shaikh 69 not out, Rahul Tripathi 30, Ankit Bawne 29; Abhimanyu Mithun 2-24) lost to Karnataka 159/2 (Mayank Agarwal 85 not out, Rohan Kadam 60; D M Hinganekar 1-21) by 8 wickets