Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mayank Agarwal's century helps Karnataka hammer Baroda

Bengaluru: Mayank Agarwal continued his good form, hammering a 90-ball 109 to star in Karnataka’s 85-run (via VJD method) against Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Group ‘A’ league in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Sent into bat by Baroda captain Deepak Hooda, the host suffered an early setback when Test opener KL Rahul fell for just three. [caption id=“attachment_4221359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty[/caption] Agarwal was in superb touch and played shots all round the wicket to keep the scoreboard ticking. Though Test discard Karun Nair failed to get going, Agarwal found an able partner in R Samarth (77) and the duo added 95 runs to set the platform for Karnataka. After the exit of Agarwal for 109, Samarth added 74 runs with Pavan Deshpande. The stylish right-hander hit 14 fours and two sixers in his knock. A middle order wobble saw Karnataka lose a few quick wickets, but skipper R Vinay Kumar blasted a quickfire 34 towards the end to help the team finish at 312 for 9. In reply, Baroda lost wickets at regular intervals to fall behind the run rate. Only opener Kedar Devdhar (48) and all-rounder Krunal Pandya (39) showed the intent, but good bowling by K Gowtham (4/42) and Shreyas Gopal (3/30) pegged them back. All-rounder Yusuf Pathan, who is returning to the game after serving a doping ban,made only two runs off seven balls. Brief scores: At Bengaluru: Karnataka 312 for 9 in 50 overs (Mayank Agarwal 109, R Samarth 77, R T Arothe 4 for 59) beat Baroda 180 for 7 in 37 overs (K Devdhar 48, Krunal Pandya 39, K Gowtham 4 for 42, Shreyas Gopal 3 for 30). Points: Karnataka: 4; Baroda: 0. At Alur: Railways 212 all out in 47.4 overs (Arindham Ghosh 48, Abhishek Raut 3 for 45) beat Odisha 213 for 8 in 47 overs (Govinda Poddar 64, Raut 27 not out). Points: Odisha: 0; Railways: 0. Punjab 247 for 9 in 50 overs (Yuvraj Singh 43, Gurkeerat Mann 42) lost to Haryana 251 for 8 in 49.5 overs (S G Rohilla 96, C K Bishnoi 44). Points: Haryana: 4; Punjab:0.