Vijay Hazare Trophy: Devdutt Padikkal hits third consecutive ton to help Karnataka win

Karnataka batsman Devdutt Padikkal has hit his third consecutive century in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy on Sunday. The young run-machine, who plays alongside Indian skipper Virat Kohli in the IPL, scored an impressive 145 not-out to help his team win against Railways by 10 wickets. During the course of his innings, Padikkal hit nine fours and nine sixes to reach the landmark off 125 balls. 

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Leading run-scorer for 2nd consecutive season

Padikkal is now the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 572 runs beside his name in just five matches. The 20-year-old also has two half-centuries, which he scored in his first two games against Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Padikkal scored 152 against Odisha (his best figure in List A career), 126 not-out against Kerala, and now 145 not-out against Railways. Also, note that Padikkal was the top run-scorer in the previous editions of both Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

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During Sunday's game, Karnataka bowlers managed to restrict Railways for 284 runs in 50 overs after winning the toss and electing to field first. Railways bowlers ran out of tricks to break into the game as openers Devdutt Padikkal and Ravikumar Samarth, who is also the captain, led Karnataka to a spectacular win with an unbeaten partnership of 285 runs. 

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As far as Padikkal is concerned, he was retained by Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after a stellar debut season in UAE last year. Padikkal scored 473 runs in 15 matches and became the first player in the history of the tournament to score three fifties in his first four matches. Padikkal was the eighth highest run-scorer in the IPL 2020 edition, standing just above his skipper Virat Kohli (9th) and South African legend AB de Villiers (10th).

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