Vijay Hazare Trophy: Devdutt Padikkal’s career-best 152 palms Karnataka huge win vs Odisha
Talented opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal continued his scorching type to notch up a List A career-best rating of 152 to assist defending champions Karnataka register an enormous 101-run win over Odisha in a Group E match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old opener smashed 5 sixes and 14 fours en path to his third List A century in his sixteenth recreation to propel Karnataka to 329 for 5 after being invited to bat on the KSCA Ground 3 in Alur.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore opener paced his innings brilliantly, taking 55 balls to achieve his half-century and 119 deliveries for his ton.
But he took off within the ultimate 10 overs as he cracked 52 runs off his final 21 balls to cruise to his maiden 150 off 138 deliveries.
Padikkal now has 301 runs from three matches, averaging 100.33 with scores of 52 and 97 within the first two matches.
In reply, Odisha had been bowled out for 228 in 44 overs with Prasidh Krishna and Sheyas Gopal grabbing three wickets every handy Karnataka their second win from three matches to maneuver to second spot within the standings.
In one other Group E match, Kerala defeated Railways by seven runs in a high-scoring thriller on the Just Cricket Academy to register their third win on the trot and consolidate their place atop the desk.
Veteran opener Robin Uthappa (100 from 104 balls; 8x4s, 5x6s) cracked his second century from three matches in firm of fellow opener Vishnu Vinod (107 from 107b; 5x4s, 4x6s) earlier than Sanju Samson took cost with an explosive 61 to energy Kerala to an enormous 351 for six.
Samson, who was appointed Rajasthan Royals skipper after they parted methods with Steve Smith, clobbered six fours and 4 sixes in his 29-ball knock, whereas Vathsal Govind remained unbeaten on a 34-ball 46 (2x4s, 3x6s).
Half-centuries from Mrunal Devdhar, Arindam Ghosh, Saurabh Singh and Harsh Tyagi meant the match went all the way down to the wire.
But medium pacer MD Nidheesh (3/83) took two wickets — Amit Mishra and Tyagi — in successive balls within the final over to take Kerala over the road in a dramatic end.
Brief Scores:
At KSCA Ground, Alur: Bihar 193 in 46.1 overs (Yashasvi Rishav 67; Shivam Sharma 7/31) misplaced to Uttar Pradesh 194/5 in 28 overs (Priyam Garg 57, Akshdeep Nath 54, Upendra Yadav 51 not out) by 5 wickets.
At KSCA Ground 3, Alur: Karnataka 329/5 in 50 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 152, Ravikumar Samarth 60, Krishnamurthy Siddharth 41, Abhimanyu Mithun 40 not out) beat Odisha 228 in 44 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 78, Ankit Yadav 56; Prasidh Krishna 3/46, Shreyas Gopal 3/47) by 101 runs.
At Just Cricket Academy: Kerala 351/6 in 50 overs (Vishnu Vinod 107, Robin Uthappa 100, Sanju Samson 61, Vathsal Govind 46) beat Railways 344 in 49.4 overs (Mrunal Devdhar 79, Arindam Ghosh 64, Saurabh Singh 50; MD Nidheesh 3/83) by seven runs.
