India, Jan. 15 -- Devdutt Padikkal, who appears to have found a magic bat of sorts and is scoring runs at will, will hold the key to Karnataka's chances as they take on Vidarbha in the first semifinal of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Thursday. Padikkal is batting like a man possessed, and his latest display of fluency came against Mumbai in the semifinal, where his unbeaten half-century pushed the rivals out of the contest.

This season, the 25-year-old has scored four centuries, placing him at the top of the run charts in the tournament. With skipper Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Abhinav Manohar in their ranks, Karnataka's batting appears well settled. Complementing it perfectly, their pace quartet of Vidwath Kaverappa, Abhilash Shetty, Vi...