Prithvi Shaw's blistering 105, after an impressive show by the bowlers, set up Mumbai's seven-wicket win over Delhi in an Elite Group D match here on Sunday as the domestic giants began their Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign on a winning note.
Mumbai bowlers, led by experienced pacer Dhawal Kulkarni (3/35), restricted Delhi to 211/7 despite a valiant unbeaten 106 off 145 balls by Himmat Singh and then cantered to the target in 31.5 overs, as Prithvi tore into the Delhi attack.
Invited to bat at the Jaipuria Vidyalaya Ground, Delhi were reeling at 10 for three as they lost Anuj Rawat (0) and India opener Shikhar Dhawan (0) cheaply. Both the batters were run out.
Trouble mounted for Delhi after they lost Nitish Rana (2), who edged to wicketkeeper Aditya Tare, giving pacer Kulkarni his first wicket. Kulkarni struck again and removed Jonty Sidhu (0) to make it 12 for four.
They lost half their side for 23 after left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (2/33) castled Kshitiz Sharma (5).
Then, Himmat and number eight batsman Shivank Vashitsth (55 off 70 balls, 6x4) rallied with a 122-run seventh-wicket stand.
Himmat played a responsible knock, striking six fours and two maximums. After Vashisth departed, Himmat found an able partner in skipper Pradeep Sangwan (28 not out), as the two forged an unbeaten 57-run stand to take their side above the 200-run mark.
Chasing 212, Mumbai lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (8) early but Prithvi (105 not out off 89 balls) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (39 off 39 balls; 6x4, 1x6) added 82 runs for the second wicket.
Shaw took the Delhi attack to the cleaners, hammering 15 boundaries and two sixes in his match-winning innings and was ably supported by Iyer, who is making a comeback after missing the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament.
After Iyer was cleaned up by Lalit Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, who had earned his maiden India call-up on Saturday, played his part with a blazing 50 off 33 balls.
Suryakumar and Shaw added 93 runs for the third wicket and brought Mumbai on the verge of victory.
In the other two Elite Group D games, Rajasthan defeated Pondicherry by six wickets, while Maharashtra beat Himachal Pradesh by 59 runs.
Brief Scores: Delhi 211/7 (Himmat Singh 106 not out, Shivank Vashisth 55; Dhawal Kulkarni 3/35, Shams Mulani 2/33) lost to Mumbai 216/3 (Prithvi Shaw 105 not out; Suryakumar Yadav 50; Lalit Yadav 2/32) by 7wickets.
At K L Saini stadium: Maharashtra 295/8 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 102, Yash Nahar 52; Vaibhav Arora 4/45, Ayush Jamwal 2/49) beat Himachal Pradesh 236 (Abhimanyu Rana 46, Amit Kumar 34; Rajyavardhan Hangargekar 4/42, Satyajeet Bachhav 2/46) by 59 runs.
At Sawai Mansingh Stadium: Pondicherry 273/6 (Paras Dogra 101, Sheldon Jackson 55; Shubham Sharma 2/34, Ravi Bishnoi 2/47) lost to Rajasthan 274/4 (Manender Singh 115, Aditya Garhwal 70; Anton Subikshan 3/55, Sagar Udeshi 1/50) by 6 wickets.
Tewatia's blazing fifty in vain as Chandigarh pull off thrilling chase
Rahul Tewatia celebrated his maiden India call-up with a 39-ball 73 but his effort went in vain as Chandigarh secured a thrilling three-wicket win over Haryana in their Vijay Hazare Trophy Group E opener in Kolkata.
Tewatia, who was named in the India T20I squad for the five-match series against England, clobbered six sixes and four fours.
Chandigarh skipper Manan Vohra led a stiff 300-run chase with a 120-ball 117 (9x4, 2x6) before Ankit Kaushik provided the finishes touches with his brisk 78 from 66 balls (4x4, 3x6).
Chandigarh completed the chase with three balls to spare.
Earlier, Haryana got off to a solid start with a cracking 102 (125 balls; 11x1, 1x6) by Himanshu Rana and his 115-run opening stand with Arun Chaprana.
Chandigarh bowlers fought back to trigger a middle-order collapse before Haryana rode on Tewatia's strong finish to post a challenging 299/9 from their stipulated 50 overs.
Tewatia, the explosive Rajasthan Royals left-hander, raced to his third List A fifty in 32 balls and then went berserk, scoring his next 22 runs off only six balls before getting dismissed by Jagjit Singh (3/36).
Having made a group stage exit in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, Bengal opened their campaign with a comprehensive 70-run win over Services at Eden Gardens.
Middle-order batsman Kaif Ahmad hit a stellar 53-ball 75 (11x4, 2x6), while skipper Anustup Majumdar provided him fine support with a 61-ball 58, as Bengal piled 315/6 after putting in by Services.
The top-three, comprising Shreevats Goswami (28), Vivek Singh (39) and Abhimanyu Easwaran (39), too chipped in before the duo of Majumdar and Kaif took charge for a 92-run partnership.
In reply, fifties from skipper Rajat Paliwal (90) and Pulkit Narang (53) were not enough as Bengal put Services under pressure with consistent wickets before bowling them out for 245 in 49.4 overs.
The pace trio of Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep, along with left-arm spinner Shabaz Ahmed, picked two wickets each.
Brief Scores:
At Eden Gardens: Bengal 315/6; 50 overs (Kaif Ahmed 75, Anustup Majumdar 58) beat Services Rajat Paliwal 90, Pulkit Narang
At JU Second Campus, Saltlake: Jammu & Kashmir 279/9; 50 overs (Shubham Khajuria 68, Vivrant Sharma 66, Abid Mushtaq 50 not out; Chetan Sakariya 3/64, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 3/50) lost to Saurashtra 283/7; 49.1 overs (Chirag Jani 93 not out, Aripit Vasavada 66, Vishvaraj Jadeja 48, Jadeja 40) by three wickets.
At 22 Yards, Salt Lake: Haryana 299/9; 50 overs (Himanshu Rana 102, Rahul Tewatia 73, Arun Chaprana 50; Jagjit Singh 3/36) lost to Chandigarh 300/7; 49.3 overs (Manan Vohra 117, Ankit Kaushik 78 not out, Shivam Bhambri 48) by three wickets.
