Mumbai trounce Himachal by 200 runs, remain unbeaten in league stage
Domestic giants Mumbai trounced Himachal Pradesh by 200 runs in their final Elite Group D game, in Jaipur, on Monday to remain unbeaten in the league stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Mumbai had won their first four matches against Delhi, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Rajasthan.
Opting to bat at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Mumbai posted an imposing 321/9, courtesy Shardul Thakur's 92, Suryakumar Yadav's 91 and Aditya Tare's 83 after a top-order failure.
Himachal were then bundled out for a meagre 121, with leg-spinner Prashant Solanki (4/31) shining with the ball.
Mumbai were Teetering at 8/3 after losing openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (2), Prithvi Shaw (2) and Shreyas Iyer (2) cheaply.
While Jaiswal was caught by Praveen Thakur off Rishi Dhawan (4/84), Shaw holed out to Mayank Dagar off Vaibhav Arora. Dhawan trapped Iyer in front of wicket as Mumbai got off to a horrendous start.
It soon became 49/4, after Sarfaraz Khan (11) failed to convert his start. Then began the rescue act with the prolific Suryakumar, who toyed with the Himachal attack, striking 15 boundaries on his way to a 75-ball 91.
He found an able ally in the experienced Tare (83 off 98 balls; 6x4; 1x6) who played the perfect second fiddle as the duo forged a 99-run fifth wicket stand to rally the innings.
After Suryakumar fell in the 31st over, Tare and Shardul added 112 runs for the sixth wicket, as they tackled the Himachal attack with ease.
Shardul, one of the heroes of the Brisbane Test against Australia, hammered six boundaries and as many sixes, as he cantered to 92 in just 57 balls.
Thanks to Shardul's hitting, Mumbai crossed the 300-run mark, but Tare's patient knock was equally important as he anchored the innings and supported the aggressors.
Chasing 322, Himachal were reeling at 4/3 after losing openers Ravi Thakur (3), Prashant Chopra (1) and Nikhil Gangta (0) cheaply, as pacers Dhawal Kulkarni (2/8) and Mohit Awasthi (1/19) wreaked havoc.
While Thakur edged to wicket-keeper Tare off Kulkarni, Chpora was cleaned up by Awasthi and Gangta holed out to Sarfaraz to give Kulkarni his second.
Ekant Sen, who made run-a-ball 21, was dismissed by spinner Shams Mulani (3/42) in the ninth over, as the team slipped to 40/4.
In the other two Elite Group D league games, Maharashtra thrashed Puducherry by 137 runs, while Delhi defeated Rajasthan by eight wickets.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 321/9 (Shardul Thakur 92, Suryakumar Yadav 91, Aditya Tare 83; Rishi Dhawan 4/84, Pankaj Jaswal 3/65) beat Himachal Pradesh 121 (Mayank Dagar 38 not out, Prashant Solanki 4/31, Shams Mulani 3/42) by 200 runs.
At Jaipuria Vidhyalaya ground: Rajasthan 294 (Arjit Gupta 78, Manender Singh 73; Simarjeet Singh 4/36, Pradeep Sangwan 3/62) lost to Delhi 296/2 (Himmat Singh 117 not out, Nitish Rana 88 not out; Shubham Sharma 1/54) by eight wickets.
At KL Saini Stadium: Maharashtra 333/4 (Yash Nahar 119, AR Bawane 110; Sagar Udeshi 2/49, S Ashwath 2/82) beat Puducherry 196 (Sagar Trivedi 79 not out, Sheldon Jackson 45; Rajvardhan Hangargekar 4/45; Satyajeet Bachhav 2/32) by 137 runs.
Saurashtra make quarters despite shock loss to Services
Saurashtra suffered a shocking 62-run loss at the hands of Services but still managed to finish as Group E toppers and qualified for the knock-out phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Kolkata.
Saurashtra finished with 16 points, four clear of Chandigarh whose direct qualification hopes were dashed with an eight-wicket loss to Jammu & Kashmir at the Jadavpur University second campus in Saltlake.
At the 22 Yards Academy in Saltlake, Services rode on Rahul Singh Gahlaut's career-best 158 to post a challenging 301 for seven and in reply Saurashtra were bundled out for 233 in 43.1 overs.
Looking for a fifth win on the trot, Saurashtra had Services in trouble reducing them to 26 for four in 10.3 overs with their skipper Jaydev Unadkat (3/51) rattling the top-order after electing to bowl.
But Services brilliantly turned the tide in their favour with middle-order batsman Gahlaut taking control of the proceedings under pressure.
Gahlaut smashed 21 boundaries and two sixes in his knock from 130 balls as he along with wicketkeeper batsman Devender Lochab (64 from 86 balls; 7x4s, 1x6) rebuilt the innings with a 182-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
After Lochab's departure, Pulkit Narang played a quickfire cameo, smacking five sixes and two sixes for his 43 not out from 21 balls to take the total past 300.
In reply, Saurashtra never looked comfortable in their chase of 302 and it was another Rahul Singh who weaved his magic with his left-arm spin, returning with figures of 4 for 45.
Singh dismissed Vishvaraj Jadeja, Prerak Mankad and Avi Barot in successive overs, while pacer Varun Choudhary claimed 3 for 62 as the duo derailed Saurashtra's chase.
Chirag Jani waged a lone battle for Saurashtra with his 64-ball 68 (8x4s) but it proved too little in the end as he was the last batsman to be dismissed, with their innings folding for 233 in 43.1 overs.
Brief Scores: At Eden Gardens: Bengal 177 all out in 45.1 overs (Suvankar Bal 54; Sanjay Pahal 3/32, Jayant Yadav 2/31, Ashok Sandhu 2/33, Ajit Chahal 2/49) lost to Haryana 178/5; 43.3 overs (Shubham Rohilla 50; Shahbaz Ahmed 3/35) by five wickets.
At JU Second Campus, Saltlake: Chandigarh 241 allout; 48.3 overs (Manan Vohra 54, Ankit Kaushik 44; Parvez Rasool 3/27, Umar Nazir Mir 3/68) lost to Jammu & Kashmir 245/2; 34 overs (Shubham Khajuria 120, Henan Nazir 110 not out) by eight wickets.
At 22 Yards Academy, Saltlake: Services 301/7; 50 overs (Rahul Singh 158, Devender Lochab 64, Pulkit Narang 43 not out; Jaydev Unadkat 3/51) b Saurashtra 233 allout; 43.1 overs (Chirag Jani 68, Snell Patel 43; Rahul Singh 4/45, Varun Choudhary 3/62) by 68 runs.
Uttarakhand pip Assam to enter knockout round
Uttarakhand thrashed Sikkim by 145 runs to remain unbeaten in the Plate group of the Vijay Hazare Trophy national 50-overs tournament, in Chennai, and clinch a spot in the knockout phase, pipping Assam by virtue of a better net run-rate.
Assam completed its engagements with a crushing 182-run win over Mizoram.
Both Uttarakhand and Assam finished with an all-win record but the former qualified for the next stage due to a higher NRR (3.273) as against the latter's 1.909.
Meghalaya edged Nagaland to the third spot by virtue of a superior NRR despite securing 16 points. They were followed by Sikkim (4 points), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Mizoram (2) and Manipur (0).
Sent in to bat by Sikkim, Uttarakhand openers Kamal Singh (119, 121 balls, 16X4s) and Jay Bista (54, 67 balls, 3X4s, 2X6s) raised 133 runs for the first wicket before the latter fell to Varun Sood.
Kamal Singh added 55 runs for the second wicket with skipper Kunal Chandela (25) and 28 for the third wicket with Saurabh Rawat before being dismissed. The rest of the batting line-up could not build on the strong platform and Uttarakhand finished at 306 for eight in 50 overs.
Sikkim was never in the hunt with their batsmen not showing any urgency and ended up posting 161 for six in 50 overs. Nilesh Lamichaney batted 122 balls for his 58 (5 fours).
In another game, Assam piled up 342 for eight in 50 overs, riding on enterprising knocks by Saahil Jain (86, 47 balls, 9 fours, four sixes), Denish Das (85, 94 balls, 12 fours) and Sibsankar Roy (56).
Mukthar Hussain (4/20) and Gokul Sharma (3/21) shone with the ball as Assam bowlers out Mizoram for 160 in 43.5 overs.
Brief scores: Assam 342 for 8 in 50 overs (Saahil Jain 86, Denish Das 85, Sibsankar Roy 56' Pratik Desai 3/63) beat Mizoram 160 all out in 43.5 overs (Taruwar Kohli 68, K B Pawan 33; Mukhtar Hussain 4/20, Gokul Sharma 3/21) by 182 runs. Assam: 4 points, Mizoram: 0.
Meghalaya 303 for 8 in 50 overs (Abhay Negi 56, Sanjay Yadav 46, D B Ravi Teja 45, Rohit Shah 44) beat Manipur 220 all out in 48.4 overs (Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam 83, Narsingh Yadav 36; Sanjay Yadav 4/20) by 83 runs. Meghalaya: 4 points, Manipur: 0.
Uttarakhand 306 for 8 in 50 overs (Kamal Singh 119, Jay Bista 54, Mayank Mishra 32 not out' Varun Sood 3/41) beat Sikkim 161 for 6 in 50 overs (Nilesh Lamichaney 58, Ashish Thapa 38) by 145 runs. Uttarkhand: 4 points, Sikkim: 0.
Arunachal Pradesh 285 for 9 in 50 overs (Rahul Dalal 138 not out, Vipin Dhaka 56; Shrikant Mundhe 4/64) lost to Nagaland 287 for 3 in 42.1 overs (Rongsen Jonathan 113, Shrikant Mundhe 102, Stuart Binny 55 not out) by seven wickets. Nagaland: 4 points, Arunachal: 0
