Tamil Nadu began their Ranji Trophy campaign in style, defeating traditional rivals Karnataka by four wickets in a Elite Group B match in Bangalore on Monday.

Chasing 260 for victory, the visitors reached the target in 101.3 overs, losing six wickets in the process.

Tamil Nadu collected four points for the victory.

S Sharath hit 57 with nine fours, and J R Madanagopal and S Sriram contributed an unbeaten 48 and 41 respectively as Tamil Nadu crucised to victory.

For the hosts, Udit B Patel claimed three wickets for 56 runs, while Sunil Joshi scalped two for 71.

Scoreboard:

Karnataka 1st innings: 208

Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 184

Karnataka 2nd innings: 235

Tamil Nadu 2nd innings:
S Suresh lbw Dodda Ganesh 29
S Ramesh c B K Venkatesh Prasad b Udit B Patel 18
S Sriram lbw Sunil Joshi 41
S Badrinath c Barrington Rowland b Udit Patel 21
S Sharath b Sunil Joshi 57
J R Madangopal not out 48
Ganesh Kumar c B Akhil b Udit Patel  4
R Ram Kumar not out 8

Extras: (b13, lb14, nb2, w1, penalty runs5)       35

Total: (for six wickets in 102.3 overs)          261

Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-73, 3-121, 4-145, 5-233, 6-246.

Bowling: B K Venkatesh Prasad 26-11-41-0, Dodda Ganesh 15-4-58-1, Sunil Joshi 42.3-13-71-2, Udit B Patel 17-1-56-3, Sudhindra Shinde 2-0-03-0.