India's senior team are taking on South Africa in the Boxing Day Test match. At the same time, the final of the List A (50-over) Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament continues on India's home soil. In which the wicketkeeper, who is out of team India, smashed the bowlers of Himachal Pradesh while scoring a quickfire century. He hit 8 fours and 7 sixes during the innings.
Himachal Pradesh captain Rishi Dhawan won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The Himachal bowlers had made a terrific start and within the 15th over of the innings, four Tamil Nadu batsmen went back to the pavilion, putting just 40 runs on board. But then it was Karthik's superb batting display. The Tamil Nadu-born cricketer rescued his side and helped Tami Nadu to reach a mammoth total of 314.
Tamil Nadu batsman Baba Indrajith also supported the wicketkeeper-batsman by playing an inning of 80 runs.
Partnership with Indrajith
Then Karthik, who came out to bat at number 5, handled the innings with Indrajith and carried it forward. Both of them did not allow the Himachal bowlers to create more pressure. The situation was such that there was a solid partnership of 202 runs between the two. Baba Indrajith scored 80 runs with Karthik and he got out when the team's score was 242 for five.
However, by the time Baba Indrajith was out, Tamil Nadu had made a good comeback. After this, the 36-year old wicketkeeper also went on to score 116 runs off just 103 balls after scoring a century in the pursuit of hitting big shots.
This means that during his century, Karthik scored 74 runs off just 15 balls. Apart from his century and Indrajith's innings, Shah Rukh Khan also scored 42 runs off 21 balls with the help of 3 fours and 3 sixes with a strike rate of 200.
Due to their super batting display Tamil Nadu were successful in crossing the score of 300. Himachal in response, now will have to score 315 runs to win their maiden Vijay Hazare title.
Pankaj Jaswal was the pick of the bowlers after he managed to scalp four crucial wickets.