Skipper Manish Pandey (60 not out) and pacer Ronit More (2-32) helped defending champions Karnataka triumph over Tamil Nadu by a solitary run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final in Surat on Sunday.

In a closely contested final, Tamil Nadu's Vijay Shankar (44 runs off 27 balls) and Baba Aparajith (40 off 25) tried their best to chase Karnataka's 180 for five, but fell short by a run. Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham (1-30) bowled the 20th over and did not allow TN to score the 13 runs needed to win the game.

Earlier, Karnataka's teenaged Devdutt Padikkal (32 runs off 23 balls) and KL Rahul (22 off 15) gave the team a decent start, scoring 39 in 4.2 overs. R Ashwin sent back Mayank Agarwal (0), but Pandey led from the front to score a quickfire 45-ball unbeaten 60. Pandey's half-century was laced with four boundaries and two sixes. For TN, both Ashwins—leg-spinner Murugan and off-spinner Ravichandran picked up two wickets each.