Hazare Trophy: Samarth smashes 192 as Karnataka stop Kerala in quarterfinals

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New Delhi: Captain R Samarth stole the show with a brilliant 192 as Karnataka outplayed Kerala by 80 runs to enter the Vijay Hazare Trophy semifinals here on Monday.

Put in to bat, Samarth and Devdutt Padikkal (101) put on 249 for the first wicket as Karnataka amassed 338/3 in 50 overs. Kerala could only manage 258 in reply with youngster Vathsal Govind top-scoring with 92.

Samarth's 192 off 158 balls was laced with 22 fours and three sixes. It was the right-hander's third century in the tournament. He was finally dismissed in the penultimate over of the innings.

Padikkal continued his merry run in the competition as he notched up his fourth hundred. The southpaw's 119-ball knock contained 10 fours and two sixes.

Pacer N P Basil was the lone successful Kerala bowler with figures of 3/57 from eight overs. Off-spinner Jalaj Saxena, who opened the bowling, returned excellent figures of 0/34 off his quota of 10 overs. Pacer S Sreesanth went for 73 in his 10 overs while Basil Thampi leaked 67 runs in seven overs on his comeback.

The target of 339 was always going to be an uphill task for Kerala. Opener Robin Uthppa fell for two and Rohan Kunnummal departed for a duck as Kerala slumped to 15/2.

Opener Vishnu Vinod made 28, while captain Sachin Baby scored 27. Govind and Mohammed Azharuddeen (52) added 92 for the fifth wicket.

Vatshal hit six fours and three sixes in his 96-ball knock.

Azhar's 34-ball essay was studded with five fours and two sixes.

Pacer Ronit More picked up 5/36, while spinners Shreyas Gopal and K Gowtham scalped two apiece.

Kerala's lone defeat in the group stage too was at the hands of Karnataka.

Gujarat beat Andhra by 117 runs in another quarterfinal.

Brief scores: Karnataka 338/3 in 50 overs (R Samarth 192, Devdutt Padikkal 101; Basil N P 3/57) bt Kerala 258 in 43.4 overs (Vathsal Govind 92, Mohammed Azharuddeen 52; Ronit More 5/36).

Gujarat 299/7 in 50 overs (Priyank Panchal 134; Harishankar Reddy 3/60) bt Andhra 182 in 41.2 overs (Ricky Bhui 67; Arzan Nagwaswalla 4/28; Piyush Chawla 3/33).

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