Vijay Hazare Trophy: Dhoni fails, Jharkhand go down to Karnataka

Kolkata :   Mahendra Singh Dhoni  lost his first match as the skipper of Jharkhand. The Ranji semi-finals got down to Karnataka. 

Dhoni 50-ball 43 and his 81-run partnership with Saurabh Tiwary proved a trifle short as a fighting Jharkhand went down by five runs to Karnataka in a Group D tie of the Vijay Hazare Trophy cricket championship.

Jharkhand's innings folded up for 261 in 49.5 overs in reply to Karnataka's 266 all out in 49.4 overs at the Eden Gardens.

Powered by a 95-ball 77 from Manish Pandey and a 93-ball 71 from Ravikumar Samarth, Karnataka set Jharkhand a target of 267. 

Pandey and Samarth were involved in a 140-ball 116-run stand for the third wicket that came to an end when the latter was caught and bowled by medium-pacer Anand Singh. 

Tiwary scored 68 runs fell a little later, and despite a spirited fight, the later order failed to overhaul the opponent total.