Karnataka (238 for 5) beat the defending champion Haryana (237 for 9) by five wickets on Wednesday in the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.
Devdutt Padikkal displayed his batting prowess in the first semi-final between Karnataka and Haryana as Karnataka stormed into the Vijay Hazare Trophy finals for the fifth time. The Left-handed batter made 86 off 113 balls in the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara as Karnataka chased down the target of 238 runs effortlessly.
Karnataka made a poor start as captain Mayank Agarwal was dismissed in the first over on a low bounce delivery by Anshul Kamboj. However, southpaw Ravichandran Smaran’s impressive inning of 76 off 94 balls steadied the ship with a 128-run partnership for the third wicket with Padikkal.
But the challenges were not over for the four-time champions. After Agarwal’s dismissal. KV Aneesh faced struggles to find his rhythm, caught out by Anuj Thakral at 22 off 47 balls. However, Karnataka finished the game in 47.2 overs, with 238 runs for five.
Before batters, the win was set up by Karnataka bowlers led by left-arm quick Abhilash Shetty, who recorded bowling figures of 4 for 34. His wickets included both Nishant Sindhu and Parth Vats, the two half-centurions from Haryana’s preliminary quarter-final win that knocked out Bengal.
Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (2/36) and pacer Prasidh Krishna (2/40) helped Shetty in restricting Haryana to 237/9. While Himanshu Rana and captain Ankit Rana scored 44 and 48 respectively, provided firmness with a 70-run partnership for the second wicket, Haryana still grappled to this drive. Anuj Thakral and Amit Rana’s 39-run partnership for the 10th wicket helped Haryana reach a decent total in the end.
This victory secured Karnataka’s place in the VInay Hazare Trophy final in 2025. Now they excitedly wait for their opponent, the winner of the second semi-final between Vidarbha and Maharashtra.
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