Vijay Hazare Trophy: Padikkal, Karun Centuries Help Karnataka Register Easy Win Over Kerala

Vijay Hazare Trophy: Padikkal, Karun centuries help Karnataka register easy win over Kerala (Image Source: IANS)

Vijay Hazare Trophy: Centuries from Devdutt Padikkal and Karun Nair helped defending champions Karnataka cruise to an eight-wicket victory over neighbours Kerala in their Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Padikkal and Nair shared a match-winning 223-run partnership off 234 balls for the second wicket as Karnataka chased down Kerala's 284/7 with 10 balls to spare. Karnataka, who defeated Jharkhand in their tournament opener, elected to field and restricted Kerala after they stumbled to 49 for three.

Baba Aparajith (71 off 62) and wicketkeeper Mohammed Azharuddeen (84 off 58) led the recovery with substantial contributions. Left-arm pacer Abhilash Shetty claimed 3-59, while leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal took 2-61. Karnataka lost captain Mayank Agarwal early in the chase before Padikkal and Nair took control and guided Karnataka to their second consecutive victory.

In another clash, Madhya Pradesh defeated Tamil Nadu by two wickets in a tense encounter. B Sai Sudharsan (51) and captain Narayan Jagadeesan (55) provided a solid start with a 115-run opening stand, before Mohammed Ali (57) and Sunny Sandhu (43) helped Tamil Nadu reach 280 in 49.3 overs. For MP, left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya finished with 3-62.

Yash Dubey (92 off 109) and wicketkeeper Himanshu Mantri (90 off 94) responded in MP’s chase with a crucial 178-run partnership for the second wicket as they completed the chase with four balls remaining.

Jharkhand recovered from their opening loss to Karnataka to defeat Rajasthan by 73 runs. Opener Shikhar Mohan's 129 off 118 balls and Anukul Roy's brisk 52 off 43 deliveries powered Jharkhand to 301. Despite Karan Lamba's century (102), Rajasthan were dismissed for 228.

Tripura registered their first win of the tournament with a dominant seven-wicket victory over Puducherry, who were bundled out for just 150, with Swapnil Singh taking a three-fer. Captain Udiyan Bose (53) and Vijay Shankar (47 not out) guided Tripura home in 32.3 overs.

Brief scores:

Kerala 284/7 in 50 overs (Mohammed Azharuddeen 84, Baba Aparajith 71; Abhilash Shetty 3/59) lost to Karnataka 285/2 in 48.2 overs (Karun Nair 130 not out, Devdutt Padikkal 124) by eight wickets

Tamil Nadu 280 all out in 49.3 overs (Mohammed Ali 57, Narayan Jagadeesan 55; Kumar Kartikeya 3/62) lost to Madhya Pradesh 283/8 in 49.2 overs (Yash Dubey 92, Himanshu Mantri 90; Govinth Ganesh 4-54) by two wickets

Kerala 284/7 in 50 overs (Mohammed Azharuddeen 84, Baba Aparajith 71; Abhilash Shetty 3/59) lost to Karnataka 285/2 in 48.2 overs (Karun Nair 130 not out, Devdutt Padikkal 124) by eight wickets

Puducherry 150 all out in 41.3 overs (Jayant Yadav 51; Viki Saha 3-23) lost to Tripura 151/3 in 32.3 overs (Udiyan Bose 53, Vijay Shankar 47 not out; Sagar Udeshi 2-16) by seven wickets

Article Source: IANS