Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair Power Karnataka; Harvik Desai's Ton Seals Saurashtra's Semifinal Spot

Defending champions Karnataka stormed into their fourth successive Vijay Hazare Trophy semifinals with a thumping 54-run victory over Mumbai via the VJD method on Monday. With the tournament's leading run-getter Devdutt Padikkal (81 not out; 95 balls, 11x4) and veteran India batter Karun Nair (74 not out; 80 balls, 11x4) unbeaten, Karnataka were cruising at 187 for 1 in 33 overs while chasing a modest 255 when rain stopped play.

The VJD par score at that stage was 132, and with Karnataka 55 runs ahead they were declared winners.

Earlier, heavyweights Mumbai, already without pacer Tushar Deshpande due to personal reasons, suffered a major blow when top batter Sarfaraz Khan (303 runs at 75.75) was ruled out after being struck on the finger during net practice.

In his absence, Mumbai managed only 254 for 8 after Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal opted to bowl at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1.

In a largely one-man show, Shams Mulani struck an impressive 86 to hold the Mumbai innings together after a top-order collapse.

Mumbai were tottering at 60/4 in 17.2 overs before Mulani and skipper Siddhesh Lad (38 off 58 balls; 4x4) added 76 runs for the sixth wicket.

After Lad's dismissal, Shedge and Kotian fell in quick succession, but Mulani held firm, scoring 86 from 91 balls with eight boundaries.

Mulani took 68 balls to reach his fifty, but stepped up in the death after getting support from Sairaj Patil (33 not out off 25 balls; 5x4, 1x6), as Mumbai smashed 59 runs in the last five overs.

Skipper Harvik Desai led from the front with an unbeaten century as Saurashtra humbled fancied Uttar Pradesh by 17 runs via the VJD Method in a rain-interrupted game to enter the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Monday. Despite missing in-form wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who had linked up with the Indian team after an injury to Rishabh Pant, Uttar Pradesh did well to put up a challenging total of 310 for eight after being invited to bat first.

In reply, Saurashtra were 238 for three in 40.1 overs when rain stopped play, and they emerged winners after the V. Jayadevan (VJD) method was applied.

Saurashtra needed 77 runs in the last 10 overs, a very gettable proposition with their captain going strong. Desai was batting on exactly 100 off 116 balls when the match was halted, the skipper having figured in a vital second-wicket stand of 133 runs with Prerak Mankad (67 off 66 balls).

Desai then found another able ally in Chirag Jani (40 not out off 31 balls), with whom he added 76 runs for the fourth wicket to help his side finish on the right side of the result.

During his knock, Desai struck eight fours and two sixes as Saurashtra edged out UP, who topped Group B after winning all their matches in the league stage. Saurashtra finished second in Group D after winning five of their seven matches.

The absence of Jurel, who had amassed 558 runs in seven innings over the course of the league stage, was a big blow to UP, but the side was well served by opener Abhishek Goswami and Sameer Rizvi, both coming up with a fluent knock of 88 off 82 and 77 balls respectively, at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2.

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Topics mentioned in this article

Devdutt Padikkal Karun Nair KAR Cricket