Despite centuries from Vijay Shanker (103) and Dinesh Karthik (120) for Tamil Nadu in their second innings in the finals of the Ranji trophy, Tamil Nadu could not stop Karnataka from clinching India's elite domestic competition.
Karnataka won the competition for the second time on a trot and the victory in 2015 being their eight overall. With this title defence, they have overtaken Delhi, who have won the competition seven times, while Mumbai still remains at the top with 40 Ranji titles.
Karnataka was impressive in the finals at Wankhede stadium, where they dismissed Tamil Nadu for a paltry score of 134 runs in the first innings, while Karnataka batsman came up with the goods in the first innings itself by piling up an impressive score of 762.
Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar led his men from the front in the bowling department, as he claimed five wickets in the first and two in the second innings.
But, the hero of the finals turned out to be Karun Nair, who scored 328 runs, which helped him win the Man of the Match as well. It was one of the best finals knock one had seen for a long time. Despite the finals pressure, Nair showed his class on a day that mattered most.
Apart from Nair, two other Karnataka players, Lokesh Rahul and Vinay Kumar scored a ton, though their centuries were overshadowed by Nair's epic triple century.
In the second innings, Tamil Nadu were better, but still lost the game in an embarrassing manner by an innings and 217 runs. Dinesh Karthik showed his class in Tamil Nadu's second innings with an aggressive ton to his name.
It goes without saying that the Karnataka team performed tremendously well to be the crowned champions.
Vinay Kumar, after the victory, said he was delighted with the team's performance as he believes that his team can dominate if they play in the same manner.
"The Ranji trophy is very important and to be winning twice in succession is exceptional. I think we can dominate for a long time in future if we play in this manner. We are not thinking too far ahead, we need to play well in the Irani trophy which is coming up in the near future," he said.
