Maharashtra thrashed in-form Punjab to earn the spot in the semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 on Saturday, January 11. The rising youngster Arshin Kulkarni smashed a brilliant hundred on his List A debut to lead Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Maharashtra to a 70-run win in Vadodara.
The 19-year-old Arshin continued his impressive run with his first List A century and also took a wicket to display his all-round skills at Kotambi Stadium. In-form veteran batter Ankit Bawne also contributed by scoring 60 runs and wicketkeeper batter Nikhil Naik scored fifty as Maharashtra posted a big total of 275 for 6 while batting first.
Arshdeep Singh, the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing 50-over domestic tournament, took three wickets for Punjab but it was not enough to restrict Maharashtra from scoring a big total. While chasing, Punjab struggled for a promising start with Mukesh Chaudhary taking three early wickets for Maharashtra.
In the second quarter-final, the four-time champions Karnataka pulled off a thrilling 5-run win against Baroda at Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Devdutt Padikkal, who was part of India’s recent Test tour to Australia, scored 102 runs and his national teammate Prasidh Krishna shone with a ball to power Karnataka to the semi-final round.
Padikkal, who boasts an 82.37 average in List A cricket, continued his terrific form by scoring 102 runs off 99 balls after Karnataka lost their in-form captain Mayank Agarwal early. The young batter KV Aneesh also registered his third consecutive fifty in the ongoing tournament.
Pacers Atit Sheth and Raj Limbani picked three wickets each for Baroda but Karnataka put up a fighting total of 281 for 8. Opener Shaswat Rawat scored an impressive century and Atit displayed his batting skills by scoring a fifty but Punjab fell just five runs short in their chase and were eliminated from the tournament.
Maharashtra Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Siddhesh Veer, Ankit Bawne, Rahul Tripathi, Azim Kazi, Nikhil Naik (wk), Arshin Kulkarni, Satyajeet Bachhav, Rajneesh Gurbani, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dadhe.
Punjab Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Naman Dhir, Anmol Malhotra (wk), Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh, Baltej Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Raghu Sharma.