Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017: Quarter-final round up, Baroda ease past Karnataka and Tamil Nadu cruise to victory against Gujarat

1^st Quarter-final: Karnataka vs Baroda, at Feroz Shah Kotla – Delhi

After failing to make it into the advanced rounds of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a charged up Karnataka side have been in impressive form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year. The team led by Manish Pandey won all their six group stage matches with 24 points to their credit. They took on Baroda in the first quarter-final but the Irfan Pathan-led side posted an easy win to reach the semi-finals.

Baroda won the toss and chose to bowl. Karnataka openers were off to a good start, getting to 64/0 before losing three wickets for 19 runs. Ravikumar Samarth fell six short of his 50 but left-hander Pawan Deshpande’s 50 helped the team touch 200. Eventually, they were bundled out for 233. Hardik Pandya’s brother – Krunal, was the pick of the Baroda bowlers. He took three wickets for 32 runs.

In reply, Baroda’s openers provided a solid start. After the loss of the 1^st wicket at 64, Kedar Devdhar and the team’s leading run-scorer, Pandya, added 92 runs for the 2^nd wicket with both batsmen departing in the 70s. Deepak Hooda ensured that they crossed the line without any further loss of wickets.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 233/10 in 48.5 overs (Pawan Deshpande 54, Ravikumar Samarth 44, Krunal Pandya 32/3) lost to Baroda 234/3 in 45.5 overs (Kedar Devdhar 78, Krunal Pandya 70, S.Aravind 42/2) by 7 wickets.

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2^nd Quarter-final: Tamil Nadu vs Gujarat, Palam A Stadium – Delhi

Tamil Nadu, who topped Group B, took on 2016/17 Ranji Trophy winners Gujarat in the second Q/F at Delhi. Gujarat won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket which posed a bit of a challenge for the batsmen. The reigning champions lost wickets at regular intervals and added only 211 runs on the board as Tamil Nadu’s slower bowlers took advantage of the pitch.

Rujul Bhatt was the lone warrior in Gujarat’s batting line-up and top-scored with an unbeaten 83. TN skipper Vijay Shankar was the pick of the bowlers with his 3 for 48 and the rest of the wickets were picked up only by spinners.

Chasing 212 to win, TN were comfortably cruising at 167 for three before they suffered a slight scare, losing three wickets for just five runs. Ganga Sridhar Raju departed for 85 before leading run-getter of the tournament – Dinesh Karthik – and Baba Indrajith walked back to the pavilion. Pacer M. Mohammed walked in at No. 7 and scored a quickfire 35 to take Tamil Nadu into the semi-final.

Tamil Nadu will now take on Baroda on the 16^th of March in the first semi-final at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Brief Scores: Gujarat 211/10 in 49.4 overs (Rujul Bhatt 83*, Samit Gohel 39, Vijay Shankar 48/3) lost to Tamil Nadu 217/5 in 42.2 overs (Ganga Sridhar Raju 85, M. Mohammed 35*, Rohit Dahiya 34/1) by 5 wickets.