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Rajasthan’s captain Deepak Hooda played a brilliant knock of 180 runs to guide his side to the Vijay Hazare finals after a long gap of 17 years. Hooda’s key inning guided his side to chase the 283-run target and defeat Karnataka in the semifinals of the tournament. Not only this but with his inning, Hooda recorded his highest List A score in Rajkot on Thursday, December 15. Rajasthan started their innings on a tricky note, having lost three wickets for 23 runs in 5.5 overs.
The 28-year-old built a crucial 255-run partnership with the 19-year-old Karan Lamba, who remained not out at 73 runs from 112 balls. Hooda stood for his team in times of need and combined 19 boundaries and five maximums to guide the side to a brilliant and notable win. The duo of Karan and Deepak simply overpowered the bowlers and finished the match on a happy note with six overs remaining.
Hooda was named Player of the Match, and during the post-match ceremony, the Rohtak-born said, “This is a team effort. It was a good knock and the way Karan batted, it was important. The pressure will always be there but you have to plan according to the situation. They picked up early wickets and we needed to just get through that period. We (himself and Lamba) just spoke about batting deep and playing according to the situation. The pacers bowled well and kept the pressure on the batters. We just want to play the best version of ourselves in the final.”
By defeating Karnataka by six wickets, Rajasthan made it to the summit clash of the tournament after a long gap of 17 years. The last time that Rajasthan played in the final was in the 2006-07 season when they were defeated by Mumbai by a margin of 72 runs. In the final clash, Hooda’s Men will be up against Haryana on December 16, Saturday, in Rajkot.
