Left-handed opener Devdutt Padikkal continued his sensational form, smashing a fourth consecutive century to take Karnataka to a strong position in the second quarterfinal of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 against Kerala at the Palam A ground, Delhi on Monday (March 8).

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Invited to bat first, Padikkal and Ravikumar Samarth shared an incredible opening partnership of 249 runs inside 43 overs. In the process, the southpaw became the first Indian batsman to hit four successive List-A hundreds.

Padikkal was dismissed by NP Basil in the fourth delivery of the 43rd over but not before he scored 101 off 119 balls. His knock was laced with 10 fours and 2 sixes.

However, skipper Samarth went on to play a knock of 192 runs from 158 deliveries (22 fours and 3 sixes) as Karnataka piled up a massive 338/3 in their stipulated 50 overs.

Earlier, Padikkal had slammed centuries against Odisha (152), Kerala (126*), and Railways (145*) in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Before him, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara had smashed four back-to-back centuries during the 2015 World Cup while South Africa’s Alviro Petersen had notched up four successive tons in the 2015-16 Momentum One Day Cup.

Devdutt Padikkal has played 6 innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, amassing 673 runs. He will be seen in action for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 14th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), starting April 9.

Brief Scores:

Karnataka 338/3 in 50 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 192; Devdutt Padikkal 101; Manish Pandey 34*) versus Kerala (NP Basil 3-57)