Young Karnataka sensation Devdutt Padikkal continued his terrific form ahead of the IPL with a third successive century as the defending champions stormed into the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals with a lopsided 10-wicket win over Railways in a group C here on Sunday.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore opener, who scored a careerbest 152 against Odisha and followed it up with 126 not out versus Kerala in their last outing, smacked nine sixes and as many boundaries in his 145 not out from 125 balls.
The 20-year-old left-hander had the company of his skipper Ravikumar Samarth who also slammed an unbeaten century (130 not out from 118 balls; 17x4) as the opening duo raced to the 285-run target win with 57 balls to spare at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here.
The big win ensured that they finished on top of group C to qualify for the last-eight while Uttar Pradesh finished second following their six-wicket win over Odisha at the Just Cricket Academy here.
The Railways bowlers did very little to trouble the Karnataka opening duo who raced past 200 in 29.5 overs as the seemingly challenging total proved just to be a cakewalk.
Gujarat beat Baroda
Hosts Gujarat defeated Baroda by 40 runs in their last Group A match to remain unbeaten. Opting to bat, Gujarat posted 277 for 7, riding on opener Dhruv Raval’s 102 off 129 balls and then restricted the opposition to 237 for 9.
Experienced leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (3/52) shone bright with the ball for Gujarat.
Left-handed batsman Raval took charge and anchored the innings with responsibility en route to his century knock which was laced with nine boundaries and a six.
Gujarat pegged back Baroda by taking three wickets in quick succession as they slipped to 135 for 4.
Pacer Chintan Gaja struck twice, first removing Solanki, who was caught by Raval, and then sent back inform rival skipper Krunal Pandya (2). Ninad Rathwa (3) also fell cheaply.
Then Chawla trapped Patel in front of the wicket as Baroda lost half of their side for 154. From there on, it was an uphill task for Baroda, who eventually ended at 237 for 9.
Andhra beat Jharkhand
Andhra outplayed Jharkhand by seven wickets to emerge on top of Group B. Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh finished on 12 points each from five matches but Andhra emerged on top, thanks to their higher net run-rate and secured a place in the knockout phase.
Sent in to bat, Jharkhand struggled with only four batsmen managing double figures. Skipper Ishan Kishan made 38 (68 balls, 3 fours), the highest score while medium-pacer M Harishankar Reddy was impressive with a four-wicket haul for Andhra.
Ashwin Hebbar (44, 18 balls, 4X4s, 4X6s) and Ricky Bhui (57 not out, 27 balls, 5X4s, 4X6s) went on the attack from the start with the Jharkhand bowlers having no respite.
The duo added 82 in 5.5 overs before Hebbar fell to Shahbaz Nadeem (1/26). Bhui continued with his aggressive ways and despite losing captain Hanuma Vihari (4), he saw the team home in the company of Naren Reddy (16 not out, 7 balls, 1X4, 2X6s).