- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 11 Jan 2025 02:50 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025: Star batter Devdutt Padikkal made a brilliant comeback to Karnataka's batting lineup by scoring a scintillating hundred during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 quarterfinal against Baroda. He had scored 102 runs off 99 balls and helped the team post a mammoth target of 282 runs.
Baroda skipper Krunal Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl first as Karnataka suffered a batting collapse after skipper Mayank Agarwal fell cheaply. But then Padikkal helped the team bounce back along with KV Anis and built a partnership of 133 runs for the second wicket.
He had hit 15 fours and two sixes in his knock of 102 runs and had played brilliant shots. He scored his hundred off 96 balls and at a strike rate of 103.03. Anis played the role of a second fiddle and scored 52 runs off 64 balls, in which he hit fours and one-six.
It was his ninth century in List-A cricket. He has performed consistently in domestic cricket as he has scored 1,977 runs after playing in 30 innings at a brilliant average of 82.37 He also had smashed more than 20 fifty-plus scores and that also 11 half-centuries and nine centuries.
This was his second consecutive hundred in the ongoing tournament as he had also smashed a hundred against Chandigarh in December 2023. He made a comeback after having a forgetful outing with the bat in the recently concluded Test series against Australia, where he scored just 25 runs during both the innings in the series opener.
But in the ongoing domestic tournament, he has been having a dream run as he has scored 1,915 runs after playing in 26 innings at an average of more than 100. At a strike rate of 94.47, he has put up match-winning performances consistently.
His brilliant performances show Karnataka's batting depth and have bolstered their chances of winning this tournament. He does have the ability to perform under pressure and that makes him one of the upcoming young talents.