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

Devdutt Padikkal kicked off the new year in style by slamming a breezy 102 (99b, 15×4, 2×6) and headlined Karnataka’s five-run win over Baroda in a closely fought quarterfinal match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here at the Motibaug Cricket ground on Saturday.

Asked to bat first, Karnataka managed 281 for eight after Padikkal and K.V. Aneesh (52) laid the foundation for a good total through 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 List A hundred. He found able allies in Atit Sheth (56) and Krunal Pandya (30), whose contributions kept the home side in the hunt for most of the chase.

However, pacer V. Koushik (two for 38) and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (two for 39) gave timely breakthroughs during the middle-overs to get the southern giant back into the contest.

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Shreyas removed Sheth while Koushik had Krunal caught behind by keeper K.V. Shirijith, who took a superb one-handed catch diving to his left. Their disciplined bowling prevented Baroda from scoring a boundary for more than 10 overs and pushed the asking rate to nearly 10.

Despite Rawat’s heroics and some useful cameos from Bhanu Pania and Bhargav Bhatt, Baroda was bowled out on the penultimate delivery of the match.

Needing seven off two, Bhargav slogged to the leg-side and tried to complete a double to retain strike but was run out, much to the disappointment of hundreds of fans cheering for the host.

Earlier, Padikkal was at his free-flowing best, clearing the in-field with lofted drives and cuts over the square on the off-side. He quickly brought up his half-century off just 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 feet well against Mahesh Pithiya to target the leg-side, collecting a handful of boundaries and a maximum over long-on. He also swept well and moved to the 90s by lofting Limbani over long-off for his second six and reached his ninth List-A ton in just 96 balls.

Limbani and Sheth then helped Baroda dry up the runs, taking three wickets each. However, Abhinav Manohar, Shreyas Gopal and Prasidh Krishna hit a flurry of boundaries in the climactic stage of the innings to help their team get 69 runs in the last 10 overs. Eventually, those runs proved decisive in a game of fine margins.