Vijay Hazare Trophy
GROUP A
Ahmedabad, Jan 6: Skipper Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal continued their rich vein of form as the Karnataka openers shared a huge partnership to help their team crush Rajasthan by 150 runs and secure a spot in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals here on Tuesday.
The sixth-round Group A game turned into a lopsided contest with Mayank (100 off 107 balls) slamming his second century of the ongoing tournament, while Padikkal (91 off 82 balls) missed his fifth ton by just nine runs as Karnataka emerged as a leading contender for the title this season by carving out a massive 324 for 7.
India pacer Prasidh Krishna (5/36) then made a huge impact with the ball by grabbing a five-for as Rajasthan crumbled for 174 in 38 overs.
Star-studded Karnataka, following their sixth successive convincing win, are leading the group with 24 points, while Kerala, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh are a distant second on 16 points, separated by the Net Run Rate (NRR). All three teams are in contention of booking a quarterfinal berth.
Tamil Nadu and Tripura are a distant fifth and sixth with eight points each.
Padikkal’s reliability at the top of the batting order has become somewhat of an asset for Karnataka. Barring just one below-par score in the six previous games, the 25-year-old left-hander has not put a foot wrong. He shared a 184-run stand with his skipper before Rajasthan heaved a sigh of relief when left-arm spinner Manav Sutar (2/51) dislodged the bails.
Mayank too perished after completing his century, built with the help of nine fours and three sixes.Rajasthan’s batting failed yet again with the team registering their fifth loss in six games with Prasidh’s accuracy and nagging line and length hastening their downfall.
Vishnu Vinod’s big ton in Kerala win
India keeper-batter Sanju Samson (11 runs) had an off day for Kerala but stalwart Vishnu Vinod came up with his best List A score — 162 not out off (84 balls) — as the southern side defeated Puducherry by eight wickets with 21 overs to spare.
Baba Aparajith (63 not out) and Vinod came together at a time when Kerala suffered quick reversals losing Samson and Rohan Kunnummal (8). Their unbroken 222-run stand guided the team home in 29 overs.
Utkarsh, Mohan star for Jharkhand
Jharkhand all-rounder Utkarsh Singh (3/30 & 56) and centurion Shikhar Mohan (103 off 108 balls) kept their team in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth as they defeated Madhya Pradesh by two wickets.
Player of the Match, spinner Utkarsh bowled a fine line to dismiss MP for 277 in 48.4 overs with Akshat Raghuwanshi (64) and Shivang Kumar (67) managing to score half centuries.
Jharkhand, despite their big-hitting skipper Ishan Kishan (9) failing to make an impact, scored the winning runs with 14 balls to spare with openers Mohan and Utkarsh playing a pivotal role in the win following a 94-run stand.
Brief scores: Karnataka 324 for 7 in 20 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 91, Mayank Agarwal 100, KL Rahul 25; Kukna Ajay Singh 2/66, Manav Suthar 2/51) beat Rajasthan 174 in 38 overs (Prasidh Krishna 5/36, Shreesha Achar 2/35, Shreyas Gopal 2/45) by 150 runs.
Tamil Nadu 259 for 6 in 50 overs (C Andre Siddarth 70, Baba Indrajith 48; Manisankar Murasingh 2/50) beat Tripura 205 in 42.4 overs (Tejasvi Jaiswal 45, Manisankar Murasingh 43; Gurjapneet Singh 6/26, Varun Chakravarthy 2/23) by 54 runs.
Madhya Pradesh 277 (Akshat Raghuwanshi 64, Shivang Kumar 67; Sushant Mishra 2/55, Utkarsh Singh 3/30, Bal Krishna 2/35) lost to Jharkhand 278 for 8 in 47.4 overs (Shikhar Mohan 103, Utkarsh Singh 56, Virat Singh 45; Kumar Kartikeya 3/63, Shivang Kumar 3/56) by two wickets.
Puducherry 247 in 47.4 overs (Ajay Rohera 53, Jashwanth Shreeram 57; MD Nidheesh 4/41, Ankit Sharma 2/42) lost to Kerala 252 for 2 in 29 overs (Sanju Samson 11, Baba Aparajith 63 not out, Vishnu Vinod 162 not out). (PTI)
