Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022, Karnataka reach quarter-finals: Key stats
Karnataka beat Jharkhand by five wickets in the preliminary quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022-23 on Saturday. Half-centuries from Ravikumar Samarth and Nikin Jose eased out the 188-run chase (188/5). Earlier, Jharkhand crawled their way to 187, credit to a fighting show from wicket-keeper Kumar Kushagra (74). Anukul Roy held the other end to score a gritty 57. Here's more.
How did the match pan out?
Karnataka wreaked havoc after opting to bowl, folding their rivals on 187 in 47.1 overs. Jharkhand openers Arnav Sinha and Utkarsh Singh departed for ducks. Shahbaz Nadeem (22) couldn't offer any substantial help either. However, their middle-order rose to the occasion, lifting them from 5/40 to 155/6 in 39.2 overs. Karnataka managed to get over the line despite facing setbacks at different stages.
Karnataka bowlers run riot
Vidwath Kaverappa (3/20), Ronit More (3/31), and M Venkatesh (3/51) picked three-fers each to bundle out Jharkhand batters. 30-year-old Kaverappa raced to 61 scalps in List A format while playing in his 43rd match. M Bhandage picked a wicket as well.
Kushagra and Roy stand were the stand-out performers for Jharkhand
Wicket-keeper Kushagra's heroics propelled Jharkhand to a respectable total. He scored an 80-ball 74 (6s: 2, 4s: 8). He clocked his third half-century in List A and highest score in the format. He has also breached the 300-run mark (309) in List A cricket. All-rounder Anukul Roy played as the second fiddle, amassing 57 off 97 deliveries. It was his fourth List A fifty.
Samarth truncates the chase for Karnataka
Karnataka's opening batter Samarth clubbed a fine 60-ball 53, striking at 88.33. He blasted seven fours before being trumped by Rahul Shukla in the 20th over. Samarth scored his 13th fifty in the format to tally 2,280 runs. Meanwhile, fellow opener and skipper Mayank Agarwal failed to weave any magic, getting dismissed for a paltry 12 off 20 deliveries.
