JOIN USA superb ton by India discard Karun Nair and a four-wicket haul by leggie Pravin Dubey helped Karnataka end Tamil Nadu's winning streak as R Vinay Kumar's men posted a 78-run win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (South Zone) T20 tournament here on Friday.
Karun's knock of 111 was instrumental in Karnataka posting 179 for 9 in 20 overs after being sent in to bat by Tamil Nadu skipper Vijay Shankar.
Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 101 in 16.3 overs.
No other Karnataka batsman crossed 20 even as Karun, who opened the innings, smashed eight fours and eight sixes in his 52-ball effort.
The only significant partnership was the one between Karun and R Samarth for the third wicket, which yielded 83 runs.
The centurion kept going despite his team losing wickets at regular intervals.
Rookie slinger Athisayaraj Davidson with a five-wicket haul played a huge role in restricting Karnataka to 179 after they looked set for a big score at one stage.
Karun was among his victims as he ran through the lower order to finish with 5/30.
Tamil Nadu was in early trouble during the chase, losing opener Abhinav Mukund (1) and the prolific Dinesh Karthik (0), who had scored three successive fifties, within the first two overs.
Despite a 48-run partnership between M S Washington Sundar (34) and Shankar (20), things went downhill for Tamil Nadu after they were separated.
Dubey, who ended Sundar's stay, took three other wickets including that of the aggressive N Jagadeesan (16) to send Tamil Nadu hurtling to a defeat.
Karnataka next face Kerala in their final league match on Sunday.
Three teams - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra - have 12 points after four games while Hyderabad have 8 and Kerala (4). Karnataka currently top the group on better net run-rate.
Meanwhile in matches played at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh beat Hyderabad by six wickets riding on Ricky Bhui's 73, while Kerala outplayed Goa by nine wickets.
Goa has lost all its matches.
Brief scores: Karnataka 179/9 in 20 overs (Karun Nair 111; Athisayaraj Davidson 5/30) bt Tamil Nadu: 101 all out in 16.3 overs (M S Washington Sundar 34; Pravin Dubey 4/19). Points: Karnataka: 4; TN: 0.
At Visakhapatnam: Hyderabad: 129/9 in 20 overs (B Sandeep 39; Harishankar Reddy 3/30) lt to Andhra: 133/4 in 18.2 overs (Ricky Bhui 73; Mohd Siraj 3/26). Andhra: 4; Hyderabad: 0.
Goa: 138/8 in 20 overs (Keenan 36; K M Asif 3/25, Abhishek Mohan 3/30) lt to Kerala: 140/1 in 15.5 overs (Sanju Samson 65 n.o., K B Arun Karthick 37 n.o.). Kerala: 4; Goa: 0.