Devdutt Padikkal
Talented opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal continued his sizzling form to notch up a List A career-best score of 152 to help defending champions Karnataka register a massive 101-run win over Odisha in a Group E match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old opener smashed five sixes and 14 fours en route to his third List A century in his 16th game to propel Karnataka to 329 for five after being invited to bat at the KSCA Ground 3 in Alur.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore opener paced his innings brilliantly, taking 55 balls to reach his half-century and 119 deliveries for his ton.
But he took off in the final 10 overs as he cracked 52 runs off his last 21 balls to cruise to his maiden 150 off 138 deliveries.
Padikkal now has 301 runs from three matches, averaging 100.33 with scores of 52 and 97 in the first two matches.
In reply, Odisha were bowled out for 228 in 44 overs with Prasidh Krishna and Sheyas Gopal grabbing three wickets each to hand Karnataka their second win from three matches to move to second spot in the standings.
In another Group E match, Kerala defeated Railways by seven runs in a high-scoring thriller at the Just Cricket Academy to register their third win on the trot and consolidate their position atop the table.
Veteran opener Robin Uthappa (100 from 104 balls; 8x4s, 5x6s) cracked his second century from three matches in company of fellow opener Vishnu Vinod (107 from 107b; 5x4s, 4x6s) before Sanju Samson took charge with an explosive 61 to power Kerala to a massive 351 for 6.
Samson, who was appointed Rajasthan Royals skipper after they parted ways with Steve Smith, clobbered six fours and four sixes in his 29-ball knock, while Vathsal Govind remained unbeaten on a 34-ball 46 (2x4s, 3x6s).
Half-centuries from Mrunal Devdhar, Arindam Ghosh, Saurabh Singh and Harsh Tyagi meant the match went down to the wire.
But medium-pacer MD Nidheesh (3/83) took two wickets -- Amit Mishra and Tyagi -- in successive balls in the last over to take Kerala over the line in a dramatic finish.
Brief Scores:
At KSCA Ground, Alur: Bihar 193 in 46.1 overs (Yashasvi Rishav 67; Shivam Sharma 7/31) lost to Uttar Pradesh 194/5 in 28 overs (Priyam Garg 57, Akshdeep Nath 54, Upendra Yadav 51 not out) by five wickets.
At KSCA Ground 3, Alur: Karnataka 329/5 in 50 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 152, Ravikumar Samarth 60, Krishnamurthy Siddharth 41, Abhimanyu Mithun 40 not out) beat Odisha 228 in 44 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 78, Ankit Yadav 56; Prasidh Krishna 3/46, Shreyas Gopal 3/47) by 101 runs.
At Just Cricket Academy: Kerala 351/6 in 50 overs (Vishnu Vinod 107, Robin Uthappa 100, Sanju Samson 61, Vathsal Govind 46) beat Railways 344 in 49.4 overs (Mrunal Devdhar 79, Arindam Ghosh 64, Saurabh Singh 50; MD Nidheesh 3/83) by seven runs.
