Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karnataka enter final after comprehensive win over Haryana

Devdutt Padikkal and Ravichandran Smaran scored brilliant fifties to help Karnataka storm into the Vijay Hazare Trophy final with a five-wicket victory over Haryana on Wednesday. Karnataka began the 238-run chase on a shaky note, with captain and leading run scorer Mayank Agarwal falling in the very first over. Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj struck early, trapping Agarwal in front of the stumps with a delivery that stayed low.

However, Padikkal (86 off 113 balls) and Smaran (76 off 94 balls) then joined hands to share a solid 128-run stand for the third wicket, steadying the ship and ensuring Karnataka chased down the modest target in 47.2 overs with 5 wickets to spare. After Agarwals early departure, KV Aneesh (22 off 47 balls) struggled to adjust to the pitch's sluggish nature and inconsistent bounce, taking 14 balls to get off the mark and never quite finding his rhythm. Padikkal and Smaran, however, managed to negate the sluggish conditions.

Coming off a century against Baroda in the quarterfinals, Padikkal paced his innings with precision, eliminating risky shots and accumulating runs with smart placement. Most of his



boundaries were deftly steered through the point and fine leg regions, playing the ball late to counter the spin. When the chance arose, he wasnt shy about attacking, as evidenced by his commanding six off Nishant Sindhu over mid-wicket.

At the other end, Smaran began cautiously but grew in confidence after reaching his fifty. His growing ease at the crease was clear as he dispatched spinners Sindhu and Amit Rana for a six each. Padikkals dismissal, attempting to finish the chase, and Smarans clean bowled dismissal by the off-spinner, came too late to derail Karnataka, who needed just 13 runs for victory at that stage.

Earlier, Karnatakas bowlers, led by left-arm pacer Abhilash Shetty (4/34), kept Haryana in check. Shetty received valuable support from leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (2/36) and pacer Prasidh Krishna (2/40). Haryanas innings found some stability through Himanshu Rana (44) and skipper Ankit Kumar (48), who added 70 runs for the second wicket. However, the team struggled to build on that foundation. A last-ditch 39-run partnership for the 10th wicket between Anuj Thakral and Amit Rana helped Haryana reach a respectable 237 for nine.