The last day of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015-16 group matches witnessed intense action with teams making a final dash for knockout berths. While Yuvraj Singh ensured Punjab’s passage to the quarterfinals with his knock of 98, defending champions Karnataka, despite a 207-run win were eliminated. Rishi Dhawan’s maiden List A ton took Himachal to the next round, while Mumbai missed the bus after finishing third. Tamil Nadu topped Group A and are in fine rhythm ahead of the knockouts.
Teams that qualified for the knockout roundsGroup A : Tamil Nadu, Punjab
Group B: Jharkhand, Gujarat
Group C: Vidarbha, Delhi
Group D: Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
A recap of what transpired on an eventful final day.
Group A
Punjab v Services: Ser 323/7 (Naku Verma 113, S Swain 101) lost to Punjab 325/7 (Yuvraj Singh 98, Mayank Siddana 46) by 3 wickets
Punjab needed to win their final group game against Services to book a quarterfinal berth and the Harbhajan Singh-led team did it in style when they chased down Services’ 323/7 with one over to spare. The win also knocked Mumbai out of the competition. Twin centurions from Services’ Nakul Verma (113) and S Swain (101 off 90) helped them post a challenging total, but Punjab responded strongly as the openers put 82 on the board.
With Yuvraj Singh (98) marshalling the chase, the middle-order provided valuable support with Mandeep Singh making 45 as Punjab shared an important 85-run stand. Yuvraj’s four sixes and eight boundaries made sure the asking rate did not climb too high and even after his departure, Mayank Siddana’s 46 kept Punjab ahead. Captain Harbhajan’s 16 from eight balls sealed the win and with it a knockout berth.
Tamil Nadu v Team Rajasthan: TN 384/7 (Baba Aparajith 137, Dinesh Karthik 108, M Vijay 74, T Haq 3/31) beat Team Rajasthan 132 (Rajat Bhata 29 not out, Rahil Shah 6/37) by 252 runs
Team Rajasthan’s decision to bowl first against Tamil Nadu did not go as per the plan as centuries from Dinesh Karthik and Baba Aparajith propelled Tamil Nadu to a massive 384/7. Karthik and Aparajith added 199 runs for the second wicket in just 187 balls. Murali Vijay, who has been batting in the middle-order came out at No.5 and blasted 74 from 44 balls as TN collected 161 runs in the last 15 overs.
Team Rajasthan, who had successfully chased 302 against Mumbai the previous day, lost three wickets in the first three overs. Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah bamboozled Team Rajasthan with his six wickets in 8.2 overs. Rajat Bhatia was once again the lone fighter and remained unbeaten on 29.
With five wins from six games, Tamil Nadu appear as the team to beat. On the other hand, Team Rajasthan finished sixth in the group with three wins and three losses.
Mumbai v Hyderabad: Hyd 217/7 (Hanuma Vihari 95, Shardul Thakur 2/33) lost to Mumbai 221/3(Akhil Herwadkar 85, Shreyas Iyer 84)
Last season’s quarterfinalists Mumbai failed to advance to the knockout stage this season. The Aditya Tare-led team had no trouble in overcoming Hyderabad, but it was actually their defeat against Team Rajasthan in their fifth game that proved to be the difference.
With two losses and four wins, Mumbai finished third in the group behind Tamil Nadu and Punjab. For Mumbai to qualify, either Punjab or Tamil Nadu had to lose to bring them level on points, but with both winning their respective games, Mumbai were knocked out.
On the day, Mumbai first restricted Hyderabad to just 217/8 in the allotted 50 overs and then chased the target with seven wickets to spare. For Hyderabad, Hanuma Vihari stepped up, but missed out on a century by just five runs when he was caught behind off Dhawal Kulkarni’s bowling in the 47th over. Opener Akhil Herwadkar’s (85) and Shreyas Iyer (84) put on 134 for the second wicket before No. 4 Ajinkya Rahane unbeaten 34 took the team to victory.
Group B
Kerala v Gujarat: Ker 102 (Sachin Baby 41, Axar Patel 3/16) lost to Gujarat 103/3 (Rujul Bhatt 35 not out) by 7 wickets
In the Ranji Trophy, Gujarat missed out on a quarterfinal berth by a whisker as the third place in Group B was decided on the basis of net run rate. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, they made sure they did not go down the same road with a convincing seven wickets win against Kerala. With five wins from six games, Gujarat booked their place in the knockouts alongside table toppers Jharkhand, who too, lost just one game.
Meanwhile, Gujarat’s opponents Kerala had two unforgettable days. After being shot out for just 49, Kerala’s batsmen flopped again to be bowled out for 102. Sachin Baby was the lone bright spot with 41 runs. For Gujarat, Axar Patel picked three wickets for 16 runs while Rush Kalaria, Rohit Dahiya and Jasprit Bumrah claimed two wickets each.
Karnataka v J&K: Kar 349/5 (CM Gautam 109 not out, Manish Pandey 79, Vinay Kumar 51 not out) beat J&K 142 (Bandeep Singh 42, J Suchith 3/26 ) by 207 runs
Domestic powerhouse Karnataka’s might was on full display as they trounced J&K by a whopping 207 runs in their last league game. However, they fired a little too late as the defending champions - despite the victory – crashed out in the league stage. While the fans have yet not forgotten their exit in the Ranji Trophy league stage, their slow start in the one-day tournament has come as another shock.
Their overall performance aside, it was a clinical win from Karnataka, who posted a huge total courtesy CM Gautam’s unbeaten century and Manish Pandey’s 79. Captain Vinay Kumar then slammed five sixes and three fours to bring up a half-century in just 19 balls. A shell shocked J&K then folded up inside 29 overs. Left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith took three for 26 even as others rallied around him.
J&K ended the campaign without a win.
Haryana v Railways: Rly 219/7 (Arindam Ghosh 76, J Yadav 2/30) beat Har 113 (Rohit Sharma 26, 5/13) by 106 runs
Arindam Ghosh’s 76 and Karn Sharma’s five-wicket haul helped Railways end their campaign on a winning note. Set a target of 220, Haryana were bowled out for just 113 in 35.1 over. Earlier when Railways were batting, Karn also chipped in with 29.
Haryana finished fifth in the table with two wins and four losses.
Group C
Maharashtra vs Vidarbha: Maha 184/10 (Ankit Bawane 48, A Karnewar 4/43) lost to Vidarbha 185/6 (Jitesh Sharma 39, S Kazi 3/45) by 4 wickets
Vidarbha topped Group C table with a four-wicket win over Maharashtra at the Palam B Ground. Mahrashtra were in a tough spot after being reduced to 76/6 thanks to Umesh Yadav (3/24) and Akshay Karnewar’s 4/43. A second wicket stand of 60 runs between Jitesh Sharma and Ganesh Satish (71) kept Vidarbha on track. In the end it was Yadav, who hit two fours and one six in just four balls to end the match on a high note.
Andhra v Delhi: Andhra 183/10 (Siva Kumar 38, Pawan Negi 3/29) lost to Delhi 184/1 (Unmkut Chand 118 not out) by 9 wickets
Delhi did not qualify for Ranji Trophy knockouts but they showed their prowess in the one-day format with a convincing nine-wicket win which helped them qualify from Group C. Asked to bat first, Delhi bowled out Andhra for just 183 and got to the target with ease in 34.1 overs.
Unmukt Chand remained unbeaten on 118 off just 99 balls. Earlier, Delhi used seven different bowlers and each got a wicket.
Odisha v Tripura : Tri 206/9 (Parvinder Singh 65 retired hurt, Deepak Behera 2/26) beat ORI 169 (Deepak Behera 29, Chiranjit Paul 3/34) by 37 runs
The match between two bottom-placed teams ended with Tripura securing four points for successfully defending a low score of 206/9.
Parwinder Singh’s 65 helped Tripura cross the 200-run mark but it was the joint effort of their bowlers - Chiranjit Paul 3/34 and Rajesh Banik 3/35 that stifled the chase. Odisha were bowled out inside 45 overs.
Group D
Madhya Pradesh v Himachal: Him 295/5 (Rishi Dhawan 117 not out, Robin Bist 84) beat MP 254 (P Jaswal 6/22, V Iyer 57) by 41 runs
Himachal Pradesh continued their impressive run in the ongoing tournament with a comprehensive 41-run victory over Madhya Pradesh. With four wins in five games, Himachal topped Group D and qualified for the knockout stage. All-rounder Rishi Dhawan scored his maiden List A ton and remained unbeaten on 117. He shared a 143-run stand with Robin Bist (84) as Himachal posted a challenging total.
Pankaj Jaiswal then claimed a career-best 6/33 and Himachal pocketed another victory. Madhya Pradesh finished fourth with three wins and two losses.
Saurashtra v Bengal: Ben 243/5 (R Eswaran 48, Manoj Tiwary 43, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja3/46) lost to Sau 246/4 (Samarth Vyas 94, Cheteshwar Purjara 50 not out ) by six wickets
Just how competitive Group D has been can be gauged from the fact that despite the presence of international stars, Saurashtra failed to qualify for the knockout round. While they did beat Bengal by six wickets, they could only finish third in the table with three wins and two losses. Bengal will know they have a lot of work to do after just one win in five games.
Playing their final group game, Bengal scored a competitive 243/5 courtesy R Eswaran’s 48 and Manoj Tiwary’s 43. Saurashtra openers Sheldon Jackson and debutant Samarth Vyas added 131 runs on the board and though Vyas was out on 94, Cheteshwar Pujara stayed unbeaten on 50 to take the team home.
