Krunal Pandya continued his fantastic form guiding Baroda to an easy seven wicket victory against Karnataka with his all-round show in the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here today.
The elder of the Pandya brothers, Krunal, first grabbed 3 for 32 in 6 overs to restrict Karnataka to 233 in 45.5 overs and then anchored the chase with a well-compiled 70 off 79 balls taking Baroda home in 45.5 overs.
Krunal had a partnership of 92 runs for the second wicket with opener Kedar Devdhar (78, 98 balls) after adding 64 for the first wicket with Aditya waghmode.
Devdhar's innings had six fours and two sixes while Krunal hit five boundaries and straight lofted six. Deepak Hooda also played his bit hitting 34 off 39 balls.
The match was certainly Krunal's who has now had a fabulous 50-over tournament and is certain to make it to one of the Challenger Trophy teams if Baroda doesn't emerge champions.
Krunal now has 11 wickets and three half-centuries in the tournament so far.
During his knock, Krunal ran beautifully between the wickets pushing the portly Kedar for quick doubles. He found the gaps with ease. Devdhar also packed a punch in his drives as Baroda didn't look like missing injured Hardik Pandya and neither did they require the services of veteran Yusuf Pathan.
During the Karnataka innings, Pawan Deshpande (54) and Ravikumar Samarth (44) were the main scorers. Opener Mayank Agarwal (40) was dismissed after getting set.
Krunal was brought into the attack in the 38th over when Karnataka were only four down and looking good for a big score. But the Mumbai Indians all-rounder did get the important breakthroughs and was instrumental in keeping opposition below 250.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 233 in 48.5 overs (pawan Deshpande 54, Krunal Pandya 3/32 in 6 overs)
Baroda 234/3 (Kedar Devdhar 78, Krunal Pandya 70, Deepak Hooda 34 no). Baroda won by 7 wickets. In semi-finals.
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