New Delhi: In an action-packed day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Saturday, Karnataka and Maharashtra emerged as the victorious teams to advance to the semifinals. In the Quarterfinal 3, Maharashtra trounced Punjab by 70 runs at the Kotambi Stadium in Baroda. In another nail-biting Quarterfinal 4 match, Karnataka held nerves to prevail over Baroda by five runs.
Teenage sensation Ashin Kulkarni smashed 107 to lead the charge for Maharashtra after Arshdeep Singh pushed them on backfoot in the early stage with the dismissals of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Siddhesh Veer. Arshin and senior man Ankit Bawne stitched 145-run stand for the third wicket to rebuild the innings. Bawne made 60 while Arshin went on to register an imperious three-figure score, hammering 14 boundaries from his willow.
Arshdeep was the star bowler for Punjab, returning with figures of 3 for 56, to restrict the opposition to 275 for 6 in the first innings. Nikhil Naik provided some crucial runs in the lower middle-order with a brisk 29-ball 52, smashing three fours and as many sixes.
Left-arm quick Mukesh Chaudhary orchestrated a top order collapse of Punjab with the dismissals of openers Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh followed by Nehal Wadhera. Barring Anmolpreet, no other designated Punjab batter showed the fightback. It was again Arshdeep who provided the big hits with the bat to push the team past 200. However, his intention to play a big knock went in vain as Punjab were bowled out for 205 in 44.4 overs.
Padikkal, bowlers help Karnataka overcome determined Baroda
Devdutt Padikkal slammed a brilliant century (102) and it was backed by the sturdy efforts of Aneesh KV (52) as Karnataka posted 281 on the board at the end of the 50 overs. Raj Limbani and Atit Seth picked up three wickets to help Baroda set up a sizeable target. Opener Shashwat Rawat’s century (104) went in vain as Baroda fell five runs short of the chase.
It was the collective efforts from Karnatka bowling unit with Vasuki Koushik (2 for 39), Prasidh Krishna (2 for 60), Abhilash Shetty (2 for 70), and Shreyas Gopal (2 for 38) to hold the opposition and bundle them up for 276 in 49.5 overs as the match went down the wire.
The other two quarterfinal matches between Gujarat and Haryana, and, Vidarbha and Rajasthan, will determine the semifinalists of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025.
In an action-packed day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Saturday, Karnataka and Maharashtra emerged as the victorious teams to advance to the semifinals. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
