Deepak Hooda might not have been in the best of touches recently, but the he silenced his critics with the bat on Thursday night.
Chasing a stiff 283-run target for a place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final, Rajasthan found themselves 2 down with just 1 run on the board.
That's when Hooda walked in and turned the tide against Karnataka. The skipper smashed 180 off just 128 balls and stitched a 255-run stand with Karan Lamba for the fourth wicket.
The duo stunned Karnataka as Rajasthan won by 6 wickets to make it to the finals of the domestic competition.
Rajasthan was once reduced to 23/3 when Karan Lamba came in and scored 73 not out off 112 balls.
But the star of the night was Deepak Hooda, whose innings was laced with 19 fours and five sixes.
Rajasthan will face Haryana in the final on Saturday. Haryana crushed five-time champions Tamil Nadu by 63 runs to enter their maiden Vijay Hazare final on Wednesday.