Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karnataka storm into quarters

Bengaluru: Defending champions Karnataka produced a polished performance to hammer struggling Rajasthan by 150 runs in their Elite Group A Vijay Hazare Trophy match to seal their quarterfinal ticket with a game to spare in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Skipper Mayank Agarwal led from the front with an exact century while his in-form opening partner Devdutt Padikkal missed out on reaching the landmark for the fifth time in the tournament by nine runs to power unbeaten Karnataka to a commanding 324/7 in 50 overs at the Gujarat College Cricket Ground.

Pacer Prasidh Krishna then warmed up for the upcoming New Zealand ODI series starting January 11 by bagging 5/36 while spinners Shreesha Achar (2/35) and Shreyas Gopal (2/45) took two wickets apiece as Karnataka bowled out bottom dwellers Rajasthan for just 174 in 38 overs.

Karnataka remained firmly on top of the table with a perfect 24 points from 6 games and will take on Madhya Pradesh in the final group game on Thursday before returning home for the knockouts that kick off at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence from January 12.

A major factor behind Karnataka’s dominant run so far is the consistent strong starts their openers have provided. And Agarwal and Padikkal did it again, the former blasting a 107-ball 100 (9x4, 3x6) and the latter cracking an 82-ball 91 (12x4, 2x6) to forge an 184-run stand.

Middle order batters Karun Nair and R Smaran, in an attempt to go big from the onset, got out for low scores but a timely 25 from KL Rahul and 35 from Abhinav Manohar ensured Karnataka didn’t make a mess of the solid foundation.

Given Rajasthan’s abject show so far with just one win, the target was always going to be steep and they folded up without offering much of a fight. Barring a 55 from Karan Lamba, none could stand up to the collective might of Karnataka’s bowling. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals as Karnataka wrapped up a thumping win with plenty to spare.

Elite Group A brief scores: Karnataka: 324/7 in 50 overs (Mayank Agarwal 100, Devdutt Padikkal 91, KL Rahul 25, Abhinav Manohar 35; Kukna Ajay Singh 2-66, Manav Suthar 2-51) bt Rajasthan: 174 all out in 38 overs (Deepak Hooda 29, Karan Lamba 55, Kukna Ajay Singh 25; Prasidh Krishna 5-36, Shreesha Achar 2-35, Shreyas Gopal 2-45) by 150 runs. PoM: Mayank Agarwal.

Puducherry: 247 all out in 47.4 overs (Neyan Shyam Kangayan 25, Ajay Rohera 53, Jashwanth Shreeram 57, Aman Khan 27, Marimuthu Vikneshwaran 26; MD Nidheesh 4-41, Eden Apple Tom 2-33, Ankit Sharma 2-42) lt to Kerala: 252/2 in 29 overs (Baba Aparajith 63 n,o., Vishnu Vinod 162 n.o.) by 8 wkts. PoM: Vishnu Vinod.

Tamil Nadu: 259/6 in 50 overs (C Andre Siddarth 70, Baba Indrajith 48, Boopathi Kumar 27, Mohamed Ali 46, Karthick Manikandan 35 n.o.; Manisankar Murasingh 2-50) bt Tripura: 205 all out in 42,4 overs (Tejasvi Jaiswal 45, Rajat Dey 39, Manisankar Murasingh 43; Gurjapneet Singh 6-26, Varun Chakravarthy 2-23) by 54 runs. PoM: Gurjapneet Singh.

Madhya Pradesh: 277 all out in 48.4 overs (Yash Dubey 29, Shubham Sharma 34, Rajat Patidar 29, Akshat Raghuwanshi 64, Shivang Kumar 67; Sushant Mishra 2-55, Utkarsh Singh 3-30, Bal Krishna 2-35) lt to Jharkhand: 278/8 in 47.4 overs (Shikhar Mohan 103, Utkarsh Singh 56, Virat Singh 45; Kumar Kartikeya 3-63, Shivang Kumar 3-56) by 2 wkts. PoM: Utkarsh Singh.