2019 Vijay Hazare | Finals: TN To Lock Horns With Karnataka In Battle of Southern Heavyweights

Karnataka, trounced Chhattisgarh by 9 wickets, while Tamil Nadu edged past Gujarat in the other semis to set up a title clash of the South Indian heavyweights in the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Tamil Nadu will lock horns with South Indian powerhouse Karnataka in the grand finale of the 2019 Vijay Hazare Trophy at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. The battle between the Southern heavyweights was finalized after they won their respective semi-final outings on Wednesday. Karnataka, who finished atop of Elite Group A and B table with 7 wins in 9 matches, trounced Chhattisgarh by 9 wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu edged past Gujarat in a thrilling rain-hit low-scoring game at the Just Cricket Academy Ground in Bengaluru. Chasing 224 against Chhattisgarh, Karnataka got off to a solid start with India star KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal taking the attack to the new-ball bowlers. While Padikkal made 92 from 98 balls, India opener Rahul continued his fine run with an unbeaten 111-ball 88. Mayank Agarwal, who was part of the Indian Test team that wrapped up a 3-0 series win over South Africa on Tuesday, had flown from Ranchi to Bengaluru to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final. The India Test opener made sure he made the most of the opportunity by slamming a 33-ball 47 during which he smashed 3 boundaries and 4 sixes. Earlier in the day, V Koushik dented the Chhattisgarh batting unit with 4 wickets. The likes of Abhimanyu Mithun, Krishnappa Gowtham and Praveen Dubey chipped in with 2 wickets each. Chhattisgarh's Amandeep Khare shone with a 102-ball 78 but his efforts went in vain. Parthiv Patel's Gujarat were knocked in the semi-final after an ordinary show with the bat against Tamil Nadu. In the rain-reduced 40-overs-a-side contest, Gujarat managed only 177 in 40 overs with the likes of captain Patel, Axar Patel and Priyank Panchal failed to impress. For Tamil Nadu, M Mohammad shone with 3 wickets as they came up with a combined bowling effort.