Defending champions Karnataka will face Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2nd Semi-Final. Karnataka newly-appointed captain Ravikumar Samarth has done an outstanding job advancing to the semi-finals with relative ease. They didn’t look back after losing their first game in the group stages to Uttar Pradesh, winning five games in a row. They defeated Kerala by 80 runs in the quarter-finals, securing a place in the semi-finals. Ravikumar Samarth and Devdutt Padikkal make batting look easy, having already scored 600 runs in this tournament.
On the other hand, Mumbai has won all of their matches in this tournament and will face a tough challenge from the inexperienced Karnataka team. However, Mumbai has a formidable batting lineup, led by Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who put on a 238-run partnership in the quarter-final against Saurashtra. Mumbai will have to depend on youngsters to get them to the final because Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer are on national duty.
Weather
The weather in Delhi will be sunny all day, with temperatures ranging from 23~32 degrees Celsius and a 50% humidity level. There is no risk of precipitation in this match.
Pitch
This venue has proven to be batting-friendly in previous games. The batsmen should have no trouble with the ball landing on the bat. The pitch is expected to slow down in the middle overs, allowing spinners to come into play. With a par score of 270-280 at the venue, both teams would prefer to bat first if they won the toss.
Playing XIs:
Karnataka
Ravikumar Samarth (c), Sharath BR (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Manish Pandey, Krishnamurthy Siddharth, Prasidh Krishna, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Ronit More, Karun Nair
Mumbai
Prithvi Shaw (c), Aditya Tare (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Aman Hakim Khan, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Awasthi, Prashant Solanki
Karnataka vs Mumbai Dream 11:
Prithvi Shaw (c), Aditya Tare (wk), Krishnamurthy Siddharth, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravikumar Samarth, Shreyas Gopal, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Ronit More, Prashant Solanki
Prediction
Match winner
Karnataka
Winning the toss
Karnataka
Top Batsman
Devdutt Padikkal (Karnataka), Prithvi Shaw (Mumbai)
Top Bowler
Shreyas Gopal (Karnataka), Dhawal Kulkarni (Mumbai)
Most Sixes
Devdutt Padikkal (Karnataka), Prithvi Shaw (Mumbai)
Player of the Match
Devdutt Padikkal
Team Scores Batting First
Karnataka 300+, Mumbai 290+
Karnataka will face a difficult challenge against the only unbeatable team in Vijay Hazare Trophy. But Karnataka openers Ravikumar Samarth and Devdutt Padikkal have been at their best in the tournament, and we believe they can lead the defending champion to win this one again.