Karnataka retained the K Subbiah Pillai Trophy by finishing at the top of the South Zone points table in the Ranji one-dayers, beating Kerala in a tight contest at Visakhapatnam on Monday.

Winning the toss, J Arunkumar opted to bat. For the first time in this cycle of matches, though, he failed with the bat, falling with the score on just four. Barring knocks in the thirties from Barrington Rowland (30), Thilak Naidu (31) and Vijay Bharadwaj (34), only Sunil Joshi's 54 off 50 balls lent substance to the Karnataka total.

Bowled out for 212 in 38.4 overs, Karnataka faced a tough task to defend their total, but they did so successfully. Dodda Ganesh spearheaded the attack, taking three wickets for few runs. For Kerala, SR Nair took his side to the threshold of victory, making 62 off 74 balls. His effort, however, was not enough, as Karnataka bowled their rivals out for 209 in 39.4 overs to snatch a three-run win.

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