Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020/21: Devdutt Padikkal slams third consecutive ton
Young Karnataka batsman Devdutt Padikkal continued his incredible run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a third successive century on Sunday. The 20-year-old smashed a blistering 145* as defending champions Karnataka claimed a 10-wicket victory over Railways in the Elite Group C. Padikkal was accompanied by skipper Ravikumar Samarth in the run-chase, who also slammed an unbeaten century. Here is more.
How did the match pan out?
Railways managed to score 284/9 in 50 after Karnataka invited them to bat. Opener Pratham Singh contributed with a scintillating knock of 129. However, the others failed to stay for long. Meanwhile, Karnataka easily chased down 285 in mere 40.3, with openers Padikkal (145*) and Samarth (130*) finishing things off. As a result, Karnataka are through to the quarter-finals.
Leading run-scorer of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020/21
Padikkal is now the leading run-scorer of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy edition by a fair distance. So far, he has racked up 572 runs from five games at an astronomical average of 190.67. The tally includes as many as three centuries.
Padikkal has been unstoppable this season
Padikkal commenced his campaign in the tournament with a 52-run knock against Uttar Pradesh. He then fired 97 against Bihar as Karnataka won by 267 runs. In the third match, Padikkal yet again proved his mettle by smashing 152 against Odisha. He followed it up with an unbeaten 126 against Kerala before registering a third successive century this season (145* vs Railways).
He averages 87.28 in List A cricket
During the tournament, Padikkal went past the 1,000-run mark (1,222) in List A cricket. Prior to this campaign, he had racked up 650 runs from 13 games. Padikkal is now averaging a staggering 87.28 with the bat. He has added five tons and seven fifties, including a career-best score of 152 (vs Odisha) in the format.
Padikkal can break plenty of records
Karnataka have qualified for the quarter-finals and can play a maximum of three more games in the ongoing tournament, if they don't lose. With this, Padikkal could break plenty of Vijay Hazare Trophy records. He might go past his own tally of 609 runs (highest in the 2019/20 edition). Padikkal could also break Mayank Agarwal's record, who owns most runs in a season (723).
