All eyes on Karntaka's Padikkal in VHT semifinal
BENGALURU: Devdutt Padikkal, who is scoring runs at will, will hold the key to Karnataka's chances as they take on Vidarbha in the first semifinal of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday. Padikkal is batting like a man possessed, and his latest display came against Mumbai in the quarterfinal, where his unbeaten half-century pushed the rivals out of the contest. This season, the 25-year-old has scored four centuries, placing him at the top of the run charts in the tournament. Karnataka's batting lineup with skipper Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Abhinav Manohar so far this season have fired well. Complementing it perfectly, their pace quartet of Vidwath Kaverappa, Abhilash Shetty, Vidyadhar Patil and Vijaykumar Vyshak has delivered consistently this season, driving the defending champions' impressive run.
Vidarbha have shown the intent to post multiple 300-plus totals this season and they are equally adept at chasing big scores. Their nine-wicket group-stage win against Baroda stands out, having chased down 293 with 50 balls to spare.
Young top-order batter Aman Mokade has also enjoyed a prolific season, scoring four centuries and a half-century. However, his single-digit scores in the last two matches are something skipper Harsh Dubey would want him to address. Stalwarts like Atharva Taide and Dhruv Shorey add further solidity to Vidarbha's batting, while veteran right-arm pacer Yash Thakur has been in excellent form, carrying his Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 performance into the 50-over tournament with 13 wickets in seven matches. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey has also made crucial contributions at key moments.