Karnataka leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal has picked up a stunning hattrick in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy clash against Baroda at the Emerald Heights International School Ground in Indore. He dismissed Shashwat Rawat, Hardik Pandya and skipper Krunal Pandya off consecutive deliveries to become one of the very few bowlers to scalp a hattrick in the tournament.
Gopal did the unthinkable when the match was running away from Karnataka at a fast pace. Rawat and Bhanu Pania were in the middle of a fantastic partnership having added 89 runs for the second wicket with the score reading 102 runs after 10 overs in the 170-run chase. However, Gopal sent back Rawat to break the stand and then broke the back of Baroda's batting line-up by dismissing the Pandya brothers for a golden duck.
He didn't stop here. The leg-spinner sent back the other set batter, Pania for 42 runs in his next over to leave Baroda reeling in the chase. He finished his magical spell with the figures of 4/19 in his four overs giving Karnataka a real shot at victory which seemed unlikely a few overs ago. For the unversed, Shreyas Gopal was bagged by Chennai Super Kings at the IPL mega auction last week for his base price of Rs 30 lakh and this performance from him must have attracted the franchise's attention now as well.
Earlier in the match, Karnataka were reeling at 34/3 after three overs after opting to bat first. However, the middle-order batters including Shreyas Gopal helped them recover. Gopal scored 18 runs to stabilise the innings while Smaran R mustered 38 runs. Abhinav Manohar provided the real impetus to the innings with an unbeaten 56 off just 34 deliveries. Karnataka managed to post a fighting total of 169 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their 20 overs.
Krunal Pandya led from the front with the ball picking up two wickets for just 19 runs in his three overs. Atit Sheth also scalped a couple while Lukman Meriwala and AM Singh picked up a wicket each for Baroda in the innings.
