Vijay Hazare Trophy, semi-final: Deepak Hooda smashes ton against Karnataka
Deepak Hooda played a captain's knock for Rajasthan against Karnataka in the 2023 Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final in Rajkot. He rescued his side from a top-order collapse (23/3), chasing 283. Hooda shared a century-plus stand with Karan Lamba and steadied the ship. The former went on to slam his sixth century in List A cricket. Here are the key stats.
An 85-ball ton for Hooda
Rajasthan had a horrible start as they lost Abhijeet Tomar and Ram Mohan Chouhan with just one run on the board. Mahipal Lomror also departed before the 25-run mark. Hooda then joined forces with Lamba, showing his attacking instincts. The duo rebuilt Rajasthan's innings. Hooda reached his century in the 30th over off 85 balls. He was finally dismissed for 180.
Hooda smashes career-best 180
Hooda registered his sixth century in List A cricket. He also owns 14 fifties. As per ESPNcricinfo, Hooda has now raced to 2,890 runs in List A cricket. He averages 40.70. He slammed his highest score. Hooda's 180 was laced with 19 fours and five sixes. He faced 128 balls and struck at 140.62.
Fourth 50-plus score in VHT 2023
This was Hooda's fourth 50-plus score this season. His scores in the competition read 180, 13, 77, 8, 12, 76*, and 114. In the ongoing season, Hooda is Rajasthan's top scorer with 480 runs at 80.00. He has slammed 51 fours and 14 sixes, striking at 105.96. It must be noted that Hooda previously represented Baroda in the domestic circuit.
Rajasthan to face Haryana in the final
Rajasthan raced to a solid win over Karnataka in the second VHT 2023 semi-final clash and will take on Haryana next in the summit clash. Karnataka rode on Abhinav Manohar's 91 to post 282/8. In response, Hooda's 180 and Lamba's 73 helped Rajasthan.
