Vijay Hazare Trophy round-up: Shivam Dube’s ton in vain for Mumbai; Gujarat qualify for knock-outs

A blazing 100 by all-rounder Shivam Dube went in vain, as defending champions Mumbai suffered a heartbreaking nine-run defeat against Karnataka in their Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s domestic one-day tournament on Thursday.

Put into bat first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Karnataka posted a healthy 312/7 on the board and then bundled Mumbai out for 303 in 48.1 overs, with pacer Abhimanyu Mithun (3/40) and spinner K Gowtham (3/51) among the wicket-takers.

For Karnataka, opener Devdutt Padikkal put up the highest score with 79 runs in 85 balls, striking 10 fours and a six. Padikkal and his opening partner K L Rahul (58) put together 137 runs for the first wicket.

However, Mumbai struck back taking three wickets in quick succession, and left Karnataka teetering at 3/146. Skipper Manish Pandey (62) and Rohan Kadam (32) rallied the innings with 69-run stand for the fourth wicket.

As the two were poised for a big score, spinner Dhurmil Matkar removed Kadam in the 38th over. However, Pandey held the fort along with wicket-keeper BR Sharath (28), as they frustrated Mumbai bowlers.

Later, a quick-fire unbeaten 22 off 13 balls by K Gowtham ensured that Karnataka went past the 310-run mark.

Mumbai batsmen, apart from Dube, were unable to put up a fight. Yashasvi Jaiswal (22), Aditya Tare (32), Siddesh Lad (34) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (11) threw their wickets away, getting Mumbai in trouble at 104/4.

However, Dube had other plans as he took on the opposition bowlers and slammed a quick-fire 118 in 67 balls, with seven fours and 10 sixes to get Mumbai close to the target. While wickets kept tumbling at the other end, Dube played his natural aggressive game.

However, the experienced Abhimanyu Mithun claimed Dube’s crucial wicket in the 42nd over with Mumbai needing another 36 runs. Dube was the eighth man to be dismissed.

After that, Shardul Thakur (26) and Dhawal Kulkarni (11) delayed the inevitable, but eventually Mumbai’s innings folded up in the 48th over.

Karnataka grabbed four points from the match.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh defeated Jharkhand by seven wickets in a rain-hit match, which was reduced to 31 overs.

Hyderabad defeated Andhra by seven runs in another rain-soaked match, which was reduced to 20 overs.

Brief scores: Karnataka 312/7 (Devdutt Padikkal 79, Manish Pandey 62; Siddhesh Lad 1-5) beat Mumbai 303 all out (Shivam Dube 118, Siddhesh Lad 34, Abhimanya Mithun 3-40) by nine runs. Karnataka 4 points, Mumbai 0 points.

Jharkhand 119 all out (Virat Singh 32, Kumar Deobrat 23; Veer Pratap Singh 5-29, Puneet Datey 3-21) lost to Chhattisgarh 123/3 (Ashutosh Singh 54 not out, Harpreet Singh Bhatia 25 not out; Anand Singh 2-21) by seven wickets. Chhattisgarh 4 points, Jharkhand 0 points.

Hyderabad 171/7 (Tilak Verma 83, B Sandeep 28, Prithvi Raj Yaara 2-36) beat Andhra 164/6 (Ricky Bhuvi 58, D B Prashanth Kumar 57; C V Milind 3-39) by seven runs.

Delhi thrash Odisha

Anuj Rawat, Dhruv Shorey and Nitish Rana hit impressive half centuries to guide Delhi to 63-run victory over Odisha in an Elite Group B match of the tournament in Vadodara on Thursday.

Put into bat, Delhi posted a respectable 299/6 on the board riding on useful contributions from their front line batsmen.

Rawat, who top scored for Delhi, hit four boundaries and three sixes in a 88-ball 69 knock. He stitched a 94-run partnership with skipper Shorey (51).

Shorey’s innings was laced with four boundaries and two sixes. However, he was unfortunate to be dismissed because of a hit wicket of a Pappu Roy delivery. Nitish Rana (56) and Lalit Yadav (46 not out) looked in explosive form. The duo together hit a flurry of boundaries and sixes to set Odisha a 300-run target.

For Odisha, pacer Suryakant Pradhan (3/73) was the pick of the bowlers while spinner Pappu Yadav picked up two wickets for 27 runs.

In reply, Odisha began on a dodgy note. India speedster Navdeep Saini gave Delhi an early breakthrough, trapping opener Shantanu Mishra leg before in the third over. Skipper Subhranshu Senapati led the fightback for Odisha with a 77-run innings but the Delhi bowlers struck at regular intervals and none of the Odisha batsmen were able to covert their starts into a meaningful innings.

Delhi all-rounder Manan Sharma (3/40) picked up three wickets while Rana (2/43) accounted for 2.

In the end the 300-run target seemed a difficult task with Delhi restricting Odisha to 236 for eight in 50 overs.

In the other Group B match, former India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan scored a brilliant 83 before taking three wickets to hand Baroda their first win of the tournament. The Deepak Hooda-led side registered a 25-run victory against Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh put up a comprehensive effort to thrash Haryana by 84-runs.

Brief scores:

Delhi: 299 for 6 (Anuj Rawat 6; SB Pradhan 3/73) Odisha: 236 for 8 (Subhranshu Senapati 77; Manan Sharma 3/40) Delhi won by 63 runs

Baroda: 249 for 9 in 50 overs (Yusuf Pathan 83; Samad Fallah 5/41) Maharshtra: 224 for 9 in 50 overs (Ankit Bawane 39 Yusuf Pathan 3/33) Baroda won by 25 runs

Himachal Pradesh: 214/8in 50 overs (Amit Kumar 47; Yuzuvendra Chahal 2/31) Haryana: 130 all out in 38.2 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 37; Mayank Dagar 4/19) Himachal Pradesh won by 84-runs.

Seventh heaven for Gujarat

Gujarat joined Tamil Nadu in qualifying for the knockout stage of the tournament from Group C, with a 14-run win over Services in Jaipur on Thursday.

The Parthiv Patel-led side posted its seventh straight win, a feat also achieved by Tamil Nadu, with two more games to play.

Gujarat and TN, both on 28 points, will face off on October 16 in what promises to be a superb Group C clash.

Batting first, skipper Parthiv Patel (99) led Gujarat to 279/9 before restricting its rival to 265/8 in 50 overs.

Sent in to bat, Gujarat lost opener Priyank Panchal (1) in the second over, caught by Mohit Ahlwat off Varun Choudhary. Parthiv mixed defence with aggression and utilised every scoring opportunity. His superb 106-ball knock was the cornerstone of Gujarat’s total with handy contributions coming from Axar Patel (47 not out, 41 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) and Manpreet Juneja (46, 51 balls, 5 fours).

Parthiv was unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved ton, falling one run short, to Rajat Paliwal.

In response, Services were provided a good start by openers Ravi Chauhan (64, 82 balls, 7 fours) and Nakul Verma (82, 97 balls, 12 fours) as they added 123 in 26 overs before the former fell.

Despite the bright opening partnership, Services could not score quickly as the Gujarat bowlers tightened up and also struck some vital blows and crucial intervals, falling short by 14 runs. Medium-pacer Rush Kalaria was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 2/28 from 9 overs while Axar Patel and Piyush Chawla had two wickets each.

In another match, Bengal hammered Bihar by nine wickets, riding on a superb 112 not out by captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, who stroked 10 fours and 1 six in his effort. He was involved in an unbroken 165-run stand for the second wicket with Abhishek Raman (61 not out,96 balls, 5 fours).

Brief scores:

Bihar 216 for 7 in 50 overs (Babul Kumar 93, Md Rahamatullah 53, Akash Deep 3/45) lost to Bengal 217 for 1 in 40.2 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 112 not out, Abhishek Raman 61 not out). Bengal: 4 points, Bihar: 0.

Gujarat 279 for 9 in 50 overs (Parthiv Patel 99, Axar Patel 47 not out, P Narang 2/38) beat Services 265 for 8 in 59 overs (Nakul Varma 82, Ravi Chauhan 61, R Kalaria 2/28). Gujarat: 4 points, Services: 0.

J&K 182 all out in 43.5 overs (Jatin Wadhwan 43, Aquib Nabi 33, Waseem Raza 28 not out, Gourav Yadav 6/40) beat Madhya Pradesh 178 all out in 48 overs (Anand Singh Bais 52, Venkatesh Iyer 29 not out, Umar Nazir 3/25, Parvez Rasool 3/30). J&K: 4 points, MP: 0.

Big win for Puducherry

Arun Karthik made an unbeaten 86 as Puducherry thrashed Arunachal Pradesh by nine wickets in Dehradun on Thursday to dominate the Plate Group standings of the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic one-day cricket tournament.

Puducherry now have five wins from seven matches to be on top of the table with 24 points, six points clear of Chandigarh who played one match less.

Chandigarh, meanwhile, kept their slim hopes alive with a thumping 10-wicket win over Mizoram at the Kasiga School Cricket Ground.

Brief scores:

At Kasiga School Cricket Ground: Mizoram 87 allout in 39.3 overs (Bipul Sharma 3/21, Gurinder Singh 2/9, Barinder Sran 2/19, Shresth Nirmohi 2/20) vs Chandigarh 89 for no loss in 12.5 overs (Arjun Azad 46 not out, Manan Vohra 40 not out). Chandigarh won by 10 wickets. Points: Chandigarh 4, Mizoram 0.

At Abhimanyu Cricket Academy: Arunachal Pradesh 179 in 42.3 overs (Rahul Dalal 40; Ashith Rajiv 3/42, Suresh Kumar 2/12, Sagar Udeshi 2/30, Vinay Kumar 2/44) vs Puducherry 180/1 in 27.1 overs (Arun Karthik 86 not out, S Karthik 52). Puducherry won by nine wickets. Points: Puducherry 4, Arunachal Pradesh 0.

At Tanush Academy Ground: Sikkim 176 in 48.5 overs (Yashpal Singh 63, Ashish Thapa 48; Roshan Alam 5/33) vs Assam 177/3 in 36.3 overs (Pallavkumar Das 117 not out). Assam won by seven wickets. Points: Assam 4, Sikkim 0.

(With PTI inputs)