Vijay Hazare Trophy: Padikkal century helps Karnataka beat Baroda to succeed in semifinal

Devdutt Padikkal kicked off the brand new 12 months in fashion by slamming a breezy 102 (99b, 15×4, 2×6) and headlined Karnataka’s five-run win over Baroda in a carefully fought quarterfinal match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy right here on the Motibaug Cricket floor on Saturday.

Requested to bat first, Karnataka managed 281 for eight after Padikkal and Ok.V. Aneesh (52) laid the muse for a very good whole via their 133-run second-wicket partnership.

In reply, Baroda opener Shashwat Rawat (104, 126b, 9×4, 1×6) shepherded the chase expertly, scoring his maiden Record 100. He discovered in a position allies in Atit Sheth (56) and Krunal Pandya (30), whose contributions stored the house facet within the hunt for a lot of the chase.

Nonetheless, pacer V. Koushik (two for 38) and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (two for 39) gave well timed breakthroughs throughout the middle-overs to get the southern big again into the competition.

ALSO READ | Mohammed Shami returns to India squad for England T20I sequence

Shreyas eliminated Sheth whereas Koushik had Krunal caught behind by keeper Ok.V. Shirijith, who took an outstanding one-handed catch diving to his left. Their disciplined bowling prevented Baroda from scoring a boundary for greater than 10 overs and pushed the asking price to just about 10.

Regardless of Rawat’s heroics and a few helpful cameos from Bhanu Pania and Bhargav Bhatt, Baroda was bowled out on the penultimate supply of the match.

Needing seven off two, Bhargav slogged to the leg-side and tried to finish a double to retain strike however was run out, a lot to the frustration of a whole bunch of followers cheering for the host.

Earlier, Padikkal was at his free-flowing finest, clearing the in-field with lofted drives and cuts over the sq. on the off-side. He rapidly introduced up his half-century off simply 51 balls. From there, the 24-year-old stepped up a gear and smashed the spinners to all corners of the park.

He used his ft effectively in opposition to Mahesh Pithiya to focus on the leg-side, accumulating a handful of boundaries and a most over long-on. He additionally swept effectively and moved to the 90s by lofting Limbani over long-off for his second six and reached his ninth Record-A ton in simply 96 balls.

Limbani and Sheth then helped Baroda dry up the runs, taking three wickets every. Nonetheless, Abhinav Manohar, Shreyas Gopal and Prasidh Krishna hit a flurry of boundaries within the climactic stage of the innings to assist their staff get 69 runs within the final 10 overs. Finally, these runs proved decisive in a recreation of wonderful margins.