Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015: Day 2 review

The 2nd day of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015 witnessed some exciting matches. While the likes of Himachal Pradesh, Gujrat and Baroda won fairly one-sided contests, Tamil Nadu, Saurashtra, Rajasthan and Vidarbha had to fight it out in their closely contested matches. Punjab, Kerala, Maharashtra and defending champions Karnataka also opened their accounts today with comfortable wins.

1. Saurashtra win a thriller:

A high scoring contest between Saurashtra and Madhya Pradesh produced a nail-biter. MP chose to field first on and put Saurashtra in a spot of bother at 53/3 from 12.4 overs. From this moment onwards it all went their opposition’s way as Sheldon Jackson and the India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja hammered centuries to put their team in a commanding position. Though, it was Chirag Jani’s belligerent knock of 77 off 43 that took the total to 340.

MP gave a spirited reply as Jalaj Saxena scored a brilliant hundred in company of Rajat Patidar and Naman Ojha who scored a fifty each. A flurry of wickets cost them dearly and eventually Jadeja defended 7 off the last over, taking the final wicket of Ishwar Pandey.

Brief scores:

Saurashtra 340/5 in 50 overs (S Jackson 111, R Jadeja 134; I Pandey 1/55) beat Madhya Pradesh 334/10 in 49.1 overs (Jalaj Saxena 133, N Ojha 58; S Sanandia 3/59) by 7 runs.

2. Rajasthan manage a great escape:

Rajasthan survived a major scare against Assam in another tense encounter. A target of 149 should have never been that difficult for Rajasthan however they found themselves in big trouble at 81/7. The experienced Rajat Bhatia, who took a five-for, stood firm even and played a match-winning knock under pressure. At 139/9, Assam had every right to believe that were in a great position to pull off a win but Bhatia ensured his team crossed the line to register a 1-wicket win.

Brief scores:

Assam 148/10 in 44.4 overs (P Das 37; R Bhatia 5/17) lost to Rajasthan 149/9 in 49.3 overs (R Bhatia 68*; K Das 2/17) by 1 wicket.

3. Tamil Nadu beat Mumbai:

Batting first TN posted 312/7 courtesy 4 half-centuries from their middle order batsmen. In reply, Mumbai were going strong at once stage however the wicket of Akhil Herwadkar, who scored a brilliant hundred, turned the match on its head. At this stage, they were 141/2 in just 22.2 overs and should have still managed to cross the line however regular wickets pegged them back. Siddhesh Lad, who was the last man to be dismissed, made a valiant 47. Mumbai were bowled out in 45.2 overs and were left to rue a great opportunity to overhaul the target.

Brief scores:

TN 148/10 in 50 overs (B Aparajith 77; D Kulkarni 3/47) beat Mumbai 286 in 45.2 overs (A Herwadkar 107; M Ashwin 3/38) by 26 runs.

4. Vidharbha beat Delhi in a low scoring match:

Opener Faiz Fazal’s 83 was the only bright spot in Vidarbha’s sorry looking scorecard. Ishant Sharma produced a feisty five-for making life difficult for the opposition batsmen. Vidarbha’s bowlers though put in a huge effort to defend a paltry 163 to gift their team a win by 18 runs. Opener Unmukt Chand was the only Delhi batsman who looked determined to stay at the crease. He made 57 and his was the eighth wicket to fall which ended Delhi’s hopes of overhauling the target.

Brief scores:

Vidarbha 163/10 in 45.2 overs (F Fazal 83; I Sharma 5/21) beat Delhi 145 in 45.1 overs (U Chand 57; A Wakhare 2/10) by 18 runs.

5. Gujrat have it easy against Jharkhand:

Barring MS Dhoni, who scored 44, and opener Ishank Jaggi, who made 34, none of the Jharkhand batsmen looked settled against a disciplined bowling effort from Gujrat in a 47 over-a-side encounter. Opener Priyank Panchal’s 62 and Parthiv Patel’s 44 put their team in a comfortable position that ensured a commanding 6-wicket win.

Brief scores:

Jharkhand 177/10 in 47 overs (MS Dhoni 44; J Bumrah 2/30, A Patel 2/30) lost to Gujrat 179 in 40.5 overs (P Panchal 62; S Nadeem 2/36) by 6 wickets.

6. Himachal beat Bengal:

Opener Prashant Chopra’s 91, Robin Bist’s 84 and Paras Dogra’s stunning knock of 78 off just 48 balls helped Himachal post 308/7 against an inform Bengal team. Losing wickets at regular intervals, Bengal were never in the game and eventually lost the match by a big margin of 89 runs.

Brief scores:

Himachal 308/7 in 50 overs (P Chopra 91; A Dinda 3/69) beat Bengal 219 in 36.4 overs (PK Shaw 68; P Jaiswal 3/28) by 89 runs.

7. Bhargav Bhatt spins Baroda to victory:

Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took 6/37 in a classy spell of spin bowling as Baroda successfully defended 291 against Andhra Pradesh. For Baroda the openers Kedar Devdhar (81) and Aditya Waghmode (76) laid a strong foundation which was capitalized on by Deepak Hooda (53) and Yusuf Pathan (46), thereby ensuring a big target for Andhra who kept losing wickets and never looked like getting close to the target.

Brief scores:

Baroda 291/6 in 50 overs (K Devdhar 81; B Sudhakar 2/51) beat Andhra 202 in 43.1 overs (Jyothisaikrishna 59; B Bhatt 6/37) by 89 runs.

8. Punjab get back to winning ways: 

Mayank Siddana’s 64 helped Punjab post a competitive 238 on a seamer-friendly track at Uppal against Hyderabad. The home team’s opening bowlers, Ravi Kiran (4/33) and C V Milind (3/62) did most of the damage bowling good lines. In reply, the Punjab opening bowler’s ran through the opposition lineup to set up a 56-run win for their team. Siddharth Kaul (5/32) and Barinder Singh Sran (3/36) proved too good for the Hyderabad batsmen. Sumanth Kolla top scored with 63*, however, was retired hurt being injured hence the home team finished 9 wickets down in 42.4 overs scoring 182 runs.

Brief scores:

Punjab 238/10 in 49.4 overs (M Siddana 64; R Kiran 4/33) beat Hyderabad 182 in 42.4 overs (S Kolla 63; S Kaul 5/32) by 89 runs.

9. Railways lose to Kerala:

Opener Vasudevan Jagadeesh’s magnificent 121 off 137 helped Kerala post 256/8 which ultimately proved beyond the reach of Railways. Anureet Singh was the most impressive bowler for Railways with figures of 4/40. From 37/3, opener Saurabh Wakaskar (77) and Arindam Ghosh (53) took the score to 150 from 29.2 which brought them right back in the contest, however, the latter’s wicket at this juncture put the pressure back on Railways. The wicket of Wakaskar, 12 runs later, turned the game completely in Kerala’s favour as Railways ultimately folded for 196.

Brief scores:

Railways 256/8 in 50 overs (V Jagadeesh 121; A Singh 4/40) beat Andhra 182 in 43.1 overs (S Wakaskar 77; P Padmanabhan 2/39, F Ahmed 2/32) by 60 runs.

10. Bowlers give Maharashtra a win:

Srikant Mundhe’s 50, Ankit Bawane’s 40 and Kedar Jadhav’s 39 helped Maharashtra post 217/8 against Odisha, which left their bowlers with lots to do. They didn’t disappoint and bundled out the opposition for 177. Mundhe again contributed with a spell of 4/35 in the company of Shamshuzama Kazi who also picked up a four-for (4/29). Govinda Poddar’s 74 off 82 was the only brilliant knock in Odisha’s innings.

Brief scores:

Maharashtra 217/8 in 50 overs (S Mundhe 50; B Mohanty 3/40) beat Odisha 177 in 43.4 overs (G Poddar 74; S Mundhe 4/35, S M Kazi 4/29) by 89 runs.

11. Defending champions get off the mark:

Karnataka finally had something to cheer about after their recent tribulations. With the help of 40s and 30s they managed to reach 242/9 and put in a solid show with the ball to beat Haryana by 38 runs. Though, Rohit Sharma (46) and Rahul Dagar (96*) briefly threatened to spoil the party for the defending champions. Two wickets each for Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar and Jagadeesha Suchith helped bowl out Haryana for 204 in 46.3 overs.

Brief scores:

Karnataka 242/9 in 50 overs (J Suchith 46; H Patel 4/62) beat Haryana 204 in 46.3 overs (R Dagar 96*; A Mithun 2/26) by 38 runs.