Hooda blitz crushes Karnataka’s hopes

Bengaluru: Rajasthan skipper Deepak Hooda (180; 128b, 19x4, 5x6) played a scintillating knock to help his team secure a six-wicket win over Karnataka in the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Rajkot on Thursday. Rajasthan, who are reaching the final of the competition after 17 years, will meet Haryana in the title-decider.Karnataka posted 282/8 in 50 overs with Abhinav Manohar (91; 80b, 10x4, 3x6) and Manoj Bhandage (63; 39b, 3x4, 5x6) playing well. But Hooda was in a belligerent mood as he hit 64 percent of the team’s total to see them home in the 44th over.Karnataka seemed on top at one point, with Rajasthan losing two wickets for one run during the chase. V Koushik scalped Abhijeet Tomar for nought while Vyshak Vijaykumar dismissed RB Chauhan for a duck again. Karnataka’s hopes soared further when Bhandage sent back Mahipal Lomror and reduced Rajasthan to 23/3 in 5.5 overs. However, their joy lasted only for a brief while.What followed was absolute carnage, primarily from Hooda’s willow. He found an able partner in 19-year-old Karan Lamba (73 n.o; 112b, 7x4), who had the best seat in the house then as he played second fiddle. The duo stitched a 225-ball 255-run third-wicket stand to dash Karnataka’s hopes of making the final.Earlier, Karnataka, who opted to bat first, did not start well. They lost Mayank Agarwal (13) and Ravikumar Samarth (8) cheaply. The going was tough with Karnataka in a spot of bother at 87/4 in the 23rd over, before Manohar walked into bat. The latter, alongside Manish Pandey, brought Karnataka back into the game with a 89-run fifth-wicket partnership with Manohar enjoying the upper hand – 61 runs from 48 balls.After Pandey fell, all eyes were on the well-set Manohar to put the finishing touches. But then all-rounder Bhandage took over with his six-hitting ability. The southpaw hit three fours and five sixes in his 39-ball innings to power his team to a respectable 282, which eventually was conquered by Hooda’s brilliance.Brief scores: Karnataka: 282/8 in 50 overs (KL Shrijith 37, Manish Pandey 28, Abhinav Manohar 91, Manoj Bhandage 63; AV Choudhary 2-43, AB Kookna 2-43) lost to Rajasthan: 283/4 in 43.4 overs (Deepak Hooda 180, Karan Lamba 73 n.o).
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