Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015: 1st Round review

The first round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy got off to a flyer with all the teams turning up for an action filled day. Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir got out cheaply while Subodh Bhati made it count for Delhi with a 4-wicket haul. Yuvraj Singh turned up the heat for Punjab with a run-a ball 93 but Jay Bista watered all the effort with  a classy 92. Birthday boy Dhawal Kulkarni scalped 3 wickets, where as Abhinav Mukund scored a match winning century to power Tamil Nadu home  against Assam.

1. Assam v Tamil Nadu

Ravichandran Ashwin struck thrice, as Assam lost wickets at regular intervals.  Syed Mohammed was the top scorer for Assam with 59, courtesy 3 sixes and couple of boundaries. The rest of the batters chipped in with starts but failed to convert them into big ones. Chasing 214, Tamil Nadu were lifted by opener Abhinav Mukund, who picked up 13 jaw dropping boundaries. Assam couldn’t trouble the Tamil Nadu batsmen, as they reached home safely in the 42^nd over with 6 wickets in hand.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 214 for 4 in 41.4 overs (A Mukund 104, V Shankar 43; K Das 1-21) beat Assam 210 in 49.4 overs (S Mohammed 59; R Ashwin 3-31, J Koushik 2-33) by 6 wickets

2. Bengal ease past Goa

A solid opening stand between  Shreevats Goswami and Sayan Mandal helped Bengal chase down Goa’s 236 with ease. Manoj Tiwary also chipped in with an unbeaten 62, as Goa were left wanting.

Earlier Asoke Dinda picked up 3 wickets for Bengal against an impressive Goa line up. Sagun Kamat, Reagan Pinto and Bandekar notched up their respective half centuries but failed to save Goa from the blushes.

Brief scores: Goa 235-9 (Saurabh Bandekar 62, Reagan Pinto 55, Sagun Kamat 55; Ashok Dinda 3-40) lost to Bengal 238-4 (Shreevats Goswami 70, Manoj Tiwary 62*) by 6 wickets

3. Uttar Pradesh wraps up a 7 wicket win.

Eklavya Dwivedi guided UP to a winning start against Himachal. Stroking 15 boundaries, Dwivedi brought up his fifty in 71 balls, and then stroked to a 126 ball century to seal the game.

Piyush Chawal was the pick of the bowlers for UP, picking up 3 crucial wickets to restrict Himachal for 243. Rishi Dhawan was the only bright point for Himachal, the right hander was unbeaten on 67 from 64 balls.

Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh 243-8 (Rishi Dhawan 67*, Paras Dogra 41; Piyush Chawla 3-49) lost to Uttar Pradesh 247-3 (Eklavya Diwedi 104*, Rinku Singh 62*) by 7 wickets.

4. Jay Bista inspires Mumbai to big win

Yuvraj Singh’s run a ball 93 went in vain as Mumbai sealed a win with 29 balls to spare. Birthday boy Dhawal Kulkarni and Sagar Trivedi shared 6 wickets between them, as Punjab were bowled out for 254.

Mandeep Singh was the second highest scorer for Punjab with a gritty 41. But it was Jay Bista who stole the show with a sublime 92. He missed out on a century by 8 runs but Mumbai grabbed the honours.

Brief Scores: Punjab 254-all out in 48.1 overs (Yuvraj Singh 93, Mandeep Singh 41, Sagar Trivedi 3-21) lost to Mumbai 255 for 5 in 45.1 overs (Jay Bista 92, Abhishek Nayar 44, Siddarth Kaul 3-58) by five wickets.

5. Shahbaz Nadeem spins Jharkhand to impressive win

Indian ODI skipper MS Dhoni had a forgettable outing with Jharkhand, but Ishank Jaggi and Kaushal Singh made use of the opportunity and brought up their respective fifties before J&K shot Jharkhand for 210. Waseem Raza was the pick of the bowlers for J&K with 3 wickets.

Chasing 211, Shubham Khajuria and  Parvez Rasool steadied the Kashmir ship but Nadeem’s 3 wickets broke the back of their middle order. They were bundled out for 201, and Jharkhand registered a narrow win.

Brief scores: Jharkhand 210 all-out in 50 overs (Ishank Jaggi 54, Kaushal Singh 53, Waseem Raza 3-31) beat Jammu & Kashmir 205 for 7 in 50 overs (Parvez Rasool 63, Shubham Khajuria 60; Shahbaz Nadeem 3-28, Rahul Shukla 2-30)

6. Sahoo’s 5 stumps Vidarbha

Arabind Singh’s 62 was the only talking point in Odisha’s innings, as the rest of the batting line up failed to pack a punch. Chasing 226, Vidarbha failed to break the shackles against Sahoo  and Mohanty.

They were 59-5 at one stage, but Jangid’s fighting 97 and Karnewar’s quick fire 72 took Vidarbha closer to the target. But Odisha just had to pick the duo, as Vidarbha lost their last 5 wickets for mere 7 runs. Odisha will thank their stars as they grabbed a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Brief scores: Odisha 226 for 9 in 50 overs (Arabind Singh 62, Biplab Samantray 37; Ravi Thakur 3-44, Ravi Jangid 2-34) beat Vidarbha 223 all out in 47.2 overs (Jangid 97, Akshay Karnwekar 72; Alok Sahoo 5-39) by three runs.

7. Andhra thrashes Tripura

AG Pradeep and Siva Kumar  were instrumental in setting Tripura a respectable target of 273. Both the batsman went for the kill. Siva Kumar’s 26 ball 51 saw the batsman plunder 5 sixes.

In reply, Tripura’s top order went about their business, with Choudhury and Parvinder Singh bringing up their respective fifties and Bose providing the platform with a quick 46. Stephen and Sudhakar shared 6 vital wickets between them, as Tripura failed to pave their way and got  folded for 215.

Brief scores: Andhra 273 all out in 49.3 overs (AG Pradeep 71, Siva Kumar 51; Manisankar Murasingh 2-45, Rana Dutta 2-49) beat Tripura 215 all out in 45.1 overs (Nirupam Chowdhary 52, Parvinder Singh 50; B Sudhakar 3-28, Stephen 3-41) by 58 runs

8. Haryana hunts down Kerala

Saini and Hooda’s half centuries built a solid stage for Haryana and Amit Mishra’s unbeateb 40 was enough to take the team to 241 in 50 overs. Chasing 242, Sachin Baby made a flourishing 95, and he was unlucky to get run out at a crucial juncture.  Azharuddeen.

Sanju Samson and Prasanth chipped in with valuable contributions but Mishra’s 3 wickets for 35 pulled the breaks in the Kerala line up. Yadav and Mishra shared 6 wickets between them to hand Haryana a 10 run win over Kerala.

Brief scores: Haryana 241 for 7 in 50 overs (Mohit Hooda 54, Nitin Saini 52; Sandeen Warrier 2-35, Fabid Ahmed 2-35) beat Kerala 232 all out in 50 overs (Sachin Baby 95; Jayant Yadav 3-21, Amit Mishra 3-35) by nine runs

9. Railway derails Karnataka’s hope

Vinay Kumar’s 50 and Mayank Agarwal’s 44 took Karnataka to 228 in 50 overs. Chasing 229, Railway lost two quick wickets but Asadullakhan’s sublime touch was matched with Mahaesh Rawat gutsy touch. Both the batsman scored fifties but it was the the tailenders who sneaked past Karnataka with a 1 wicket win in the final delivery.

Brief scores: Karnataka 228 for 9 in 50 overs (Vinay Kumar 50, Mayank Agarwal 44; Akshat Pandey 3-45) lost to Railways 229 for 9 in 50 overs (Karn Sharma 51, Asad Pathan 50, Mahesh Rawat 50; Vinay 4-45) by one wicket

10. Services seals an easy win

Nakul Verma’s 68 got assistance from Yashpal Yadav’s unbeaten 75. But it was Suraj Yadav whose cameo of 30 balls 44 set up 230 in 50 overs for Services. Rajasthan’s batting was on disarray, losing 6 wickets for 21 runs and got floored without a fight. Gurdev Pathania and Rajat Paliwal shared 4 wickets between them and made merry of the visitors.

Brief Scores: Services 230 for 7 in 50 overs (Yashpal Singh 75, Yashpal Singh 68, Nathu Singh 4-42) beat Rajasthan 167-ll out in 41.3 overs (Puneet Yadav 52, Rajat Paliwal 2-10, Suraj Yadav 2-31) by 63 runs

11. Bhati’s 4 breaks Baroda’s back

Nitish Rana overshadowed Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan‘s contribution, finding the fence on seven occasions. Pawan Negi’s 47 hurt Baroda, as Delhi recovered from 113-6 to 208-7. Chasing 209, Deepak Hooda pinned some hope with his 76 ball half century, but Subodh Bhati ahd other plans. He picked up 4 wickets for 17 runs to see Delhi win its first encounter.

Brief scores: Delhi 208 for 7 in 50 overs (Nitish Rana 62, Pawan Negi 47*; Rishi Arothe 2-30) beat Baroda 177 all out in 46.5 overs (Deepak Hooda 50; Subodh Bhati 4-17) by 31 runs.