Karnataka Cricket Team: Hatrick Wins, Captured All three Cups in a Row in One Year !!

 Vinay Kumar(Davanagere Express) Team swept everything that came in their way. Sunday completed a success story of Tsunamic proportions for Karnataka that did an Inter Milan, not with the haughtiness of a Jose Mourinho but with a yeoman-like service from each member of its squad that brought home the Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup and Vijay Hazare Trophy - all in 2013-14. 

The feat wasn't achieved with a saunter. It involved a knock, a fall and a recovery full of spirit warming every heart that huffed and puffed in training, skipped a beat, raced, sunk and revived, and on Sunday found itself captivated in a hat-trick of winning moments.

The Vijay Hazare trophy was just 158 runs away, but with half the side back at less than 50 on the board, it looked a far cry until a fightback that defined Karnataka - a team that played like one possessed and in a Sachin Tendulkar-like zone, which none could breach.

Ranji Trophy

The boys from the south didn't lose even a single game in the season - winning seven and drawing four - en route their seventh title, with a win over Maharashtra in the final sealing the season in Karnataka's favour.

The team's seven-wicket win was their sixth on the trot and ended the 15-year wait for a Ranji title.

Fifteen centuries came from the Karnataka bats while Abhimanyu Mithun was the chief-destructor with 41 wickets, followed by skipper Vinay Kumar with 29.

Irani Cup

Kumar led from the front against Rest of India to win the fifth Irani Cup for his state. Fourth 10-wicket match-haul in first class cricket was the perfect birthday gift the skipper gave himself. The win was Karnataka's eighth in nine matches and made them the first Ranji Trophy winners in the last nine seasons to claim the Irani Cup.

Vijay Hazare Trophy

The treble was completed in the one-day arena at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata against Railways who were storming towards victory by reducing the Ranji and Irani champions to 47 for 5, chasing 158. But Karun Nair and KL Rahul turned it around through a 66-run partnership, with Nair's 53 winning Karnataka their maiden title in the one-day format.

Opener Robin Uthappa failed in the final, but his 536 runs, including three centuries at over 85, in the tournament played a crucial role. Skipper Kumar led the way in bowling, finishing with 28 wickets, including three five-wicket hauls.

Nothing can describe this success story and the effort that went into it better than skipper Kumar's comment at the end of the Irani Cup. "There is so much hard work behind this. This is not just about 11 players." -Partly Sourced from IBN Live