Vijay Hazare Trophy: Gujarat, Karnataka enter semi-finals after Priyank, Devdutt hundreds

The runs continued to flow on the opening day of quarter-finals action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as Karnataka and Gujarat eased into the last-four stages after showcasing their batting might. While Karnataka defeated Kerala by 80 runs in the 2nd quarter-final, Gujarat handed a 117-run thrashing to Andhra in Delhi on Monday.

At the Palam Ground, Kerala were unable to pick up early wickets after putting Karnataka in. Devdutt Padikkal continued his fine run, hitting his fourth-straight hundred in the tournament. He stitched a 249-run stand with captain Samarth who missed his double hundred by just 8 runs. While Padikkal hit 101 from 119 balls, Samarth upped the ante after Padikkal's exit and finished with 192 in just 158 balls. Kerala's new-ball bowlers Sreesanth (0/73) and Basil Thampi (0/67) were taken to the cleaners. Manish Pandey's quickfire 34 helped Karnataka post 338 on the board.

In the lead-up to the England series, Devdutt Padikkal is making sure the selectors are keeping a close eye on him. The Royal Challengers Bangalore has hit 673 runs, including 4 hunrdreds in 6 matches, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

In reply, Kerala got off to a poor start as they lost in-form Robin



Uthappa early for 2. Rohan Kunnummal went for 0.

Vathsal Govind hit 92 from 96 balls and star wicketkeeper Mohammed Azharuddeen hit a quickfire 52 off 34 balls but Kerala managed only 258 as they kept losing wickets in regular intervals.

Pacer Ronit More shone with a 5-wicket haul as Kerala were not allowed to build partnerships in a steep chase.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 338/3 (Ravikumar Samarth 192, Devdutt Padikkal 101; Basil NP 3/57) beat Kerala 258 (Vathsal Govind 92; M Azharuddeen 52; Ronit More 5/36, Shreyas Gopal 2/64) by 80 runs.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Gujarat rode on captain Priyank Panchal's 131-ball 134 to post 299 on the board in 50 overs. Andhra spinner Harishankar Reddy, who grabbed an IPL 2021 contract with Chennai Super Kings, picked up 3 wickets but 299 proved to be too much for them.

Senior spinner Piyush Chawla picked up 3 wickets while pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla picked up 4 as Andhra were skittled out for 182 despite a fifty from Ricky Bhui.

Brief Scores: Gujarat 299/7 (Priyank Panchal 134; Rahul Shah 36; M Harishankar Reddy 3/60, A Lalith Mohan 2/55) beat Andhra 182 (Ricky Bhui 67, Arzan Nagwaswalla 4/28; Piyush Chawla 3/33) by 117 runs.