LUCKNOW, Feb. 19 -- A sparkling half-century by opener Varnika and a three-wicket haul by Shilpi Yadav guided former runners-up Uttar Pradesh notch up a facile five-wicket win over Assam on Wednesday, but the side failed to make it to the knockout of the Women's Senior One Day Trophy as they lost out to Karnataka on the basis of net run rate (NRR). Maharashtra topped the table with 28 points. With five wins each, both Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka logged on 20 points each in the eight-team Elite Group A, but Karnataka finished with NRR 1.383 against Uttar Pradesh's NRR 0.895. In fact, Uttar Pradesh needed to chase the target of 202 in 10.3 overs, but they took 35 overs to complete the formality at the loss five wickets. Inform Varnika, who scored four half centuries and a century in the previous matches, was once again in sublime touch, ensured a flying start of Uttar Pradesh's run chase, adding 133 runs for the first wicket with Sampada Dixit before being castled by Rashmi Dey. She scored 65-ball 68 with the help of 12 hits to the fence. Dixit too continued to hit the ball all around the ground of Sanosara Cricket Ground A at Rajkot with sheer power to score 67 in 78 balls with the help of 10 boundaries. Nishu Choudhary (22, 17b, 4x4) and keeper-batter Nishi Kashyap (23, 23b, 3x4, 1x6) also made useful contributions. For Assam, Nirupama Bose remained the most successful bowler with 3/35, whereas Rashmi Dey bagged 2/54. Earlier, Assam never got the going easy even while batting first after winning the toss. After losing opener Khushi Sharma (9), they kept losing wickets on regular intervals before being reduced to 67/4 in the 16th over. A 45-run fourth wicket stand between Monika Das (21) and Florina Taye and later another 50-run partnership between Taye and keeper-batter Shivani Bishnoi (26) helped the cross 200-run mark. Taye remained unbeaten on 61, which came off 110 balls with the help of six hits to the fence as Assam scored 201/7. Spinner Shilpi Yadav remained the most impressive bowler for Uttar Pradesh, bagging 3/24, whereas Sonali Singh, Archana Devi and Khushi Tyagi shared three wickets between them. With this loss, Uttar Pradesh's campaign in the senior women's cricket this season came to an end. Now, UP will play their last event of the season in the Women's Under 23 One Day Trophy, scheduled to be played at Pune from March 3, where UP have been bracketed with teams like Odisha, Bengal, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Gujarat in Elite Group D....