Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25: Smaran’s unbeaten century helps Karnataka beat Pondicherry by four wickets
Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25: Smaran’s unbeaten century helps Karnataka beat Pondicherry by four wickets
A four-wicket haul from pacer Vidyadhar Patil and an unbeaten maiden List A century from R. Smaran helped Karnataka over the line against Pondicherry in the Group C Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter in Ahmedabad on Monday.
Smaran (100 n.o., 87b, 10×4, 3×6) combined for a 113-run stand with vice-captain Shreyas Gopal (40, 59b, 3×4) to help Karnataka seal victory by four wickets in a tricky chase.
Pondicherry’s debutant left-arm pacer Vijai Raja struck early to remove opener Nikin Jose for 10. Mayank Agarwal looked in good touch during his brief stint, scoring four boundaries on the offside, before yorking himself against Aman Khan.
K.V. Aneesh and Smaran held fort in a 33-run partnership to steady the ship. The former holed out to deep point against Raja while looking for his first boundary of the day and wicketkeeper KL Shrijith too fell to the left-armer immediately after.
With Karnataka in a bit of trouble at 78 for four, Shreyas walked in at number six. The all-rounder ensured that the runs kept flowing with continuous rotation of strike.
Smaran displayed his array of attacking shots once the innings steadied, bringing up his half-century with two continuous boundaries. Once the landmark was reached, the floodgates opened as both batters hit six fours in the space of seven balls to wrest complete control of the chase.
Despite a flurry of wickets falling with the finish line in sight, Smaran kept his calm, recording his maiden hundred and ensuring the team completed the chase in 40.5 overs to secure a second consecutive win.
In the morning, after putting Pondicherry into bat, Karnataka’s opening bowlers made the best use of the conditions, skittling the top order within 10 overs.
None of Podicherry’s top-five managed to get into double figures with Vidyadhar Patil picking up four wickets in his first spell, forcing the batters to play at deliveries in the channel outside off.
Captain K.B. Arun Karthick (71, 106b, 3×4, 2×6) and all-rounder Aman (45, 65b, 3×4, 1×6) forged a solid partnership after the first PowerPlay. The two batters were content in protecting their wicket while the pacers were in operation as the team nudged to 53 at the 18-over mark.
Once the spinners were brought in, the two batters used the depth of the crease to punch the ball on either side of the wicket to keep the scoreboard ticking. Aman fell shy of his fifty after a surprise bouncer from V. Vyshak caught him off-guard, handing a simple catch to Nikin Jose at short midwicket.
Karthick then dropped anchor, content with taking the game deep while Ankit Sharma and Sagar Udeshi looked positive in their shot-making. Patil missed out on a fifer when Karthick’s fierce cut was dropped at backward point. The skipper went on to complete his half-century before being run out in the penultimate over as his side posted a total of 211 for nine which proved to be inadequate.
