Karnataka takes on Mumbai in a heavyweight Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinal clash at the BCCI CoE (1) ground here on Monday.
The outing, worthy of a final, came about as a result of Mumbai’s shocking collapse against Punjab in its last Elite Group C match at Jaipur on Thursday.
The loss pushed Mumbai to the second spot, robbing the side the chance to finish on top and face Madhya Pradesh in the last-eight.
Karnataka and Mumbai will miss a few key players. For the home side, K.L. Rahul and pacer Prasidh Krishna are absent, having been called up for India duty while Mumbai must make do without Shreyas Iyer and an injured Shardul Thakur.
Karnataka, which dominated Elite Group A with six wins in seven matches, boasts of a strong batting unit. Devdutt Padikkal, the leading run-scorer of the tournament, is in red-hot form. Captain Mayank Agarwal is another top-order threat, with two centuries and as many fifties under his belt. Karun Nair started the campaign well, but has not clicked in the last three games.
Mumbai’s batting hopes rest on Sarfaraz Khan, who possesses a marauding tournament strike rate of 190.56. Sarfaraz’s 20-ball 62 against Punjab put Mumbai in a winning position before Shreyas, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube let the team down.
At the adjacent BCCI CoE (2) ground, an unbeaten Uttar Pradesh faces Saurashtra.
Aryan Juyal and captain Rinku Singh have been among the runs for Uttar Pradesh, and are backed by the big-hitting Sameer Rizvi and all-rounder Prashant Veer.
Saurashtra has unearthed two standout performers in middle-order batter Sammar Gajjar and fast bowler Ankur Panwar. The more experienced opening pair of Harvik Desai and Vishvaraj Jadeja can make the most of an even paced BCCI CoE pitch.
Hugely impressive
On Tuesday, Delhi starts as the favourite against Vidarbha in the third quarterfinal. Delhi, which put on a string of commanding shows in the Elite Group D matches held here, counts on a terrific pace trio — Ishant Sharma, Prince Yadav and Navdeep Saini — to blast through the opposition line-up.
The schedule: Quarterfinals: Monday: Karnataka vs Mumbai (QF1), BCCI CoE (1); Uttar Pradesh vs Saurashtra (QF2), BCCI CoE (2).
Tuesday: Punjab vs Madhya Pradesh (QF3), BCCI CoE (1); Delhi vs Vidarbha (QF4), BCCI CoE (2).
Quarterfinals start at 9 a.m.
Semifinals: Jan. 15: Winner of QF1 vs Winner of QF4, BCCI CoE (1).
Jan. 16: Winner of QF2 vs Winner of QF3, BCCI CoE (1).
Final: Jan. 18: BCCI CoE (1)
Semifinals and final start at 1.30 p.m.
