Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017-18, Day 9- Round Up

The day nine of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017-18 witnessed some nail-biting encounters and most of them went all the way down to the wire, and one will have to say that as the tournament is heading towards the knock-out stages, the competitiveness and excitement around the games is just growing. Every match here on will be a must-win game for the top four teams in each group if they head towards the knock-out encounters.

Tripura and Bengal faced off in a rain-curtailed game and was eventually reduced to 33 overs per side. Batting first, Bengal posted a winning score of 249 runs laden with quickfire fifty from Abhishek Raman and reliable Vivek Singh. For Tripura, Abhijit Chakraborty took 7 wickets. In reply, the Tripura batters were just not up for it and fell short by a huge margin as they were bowled out with a collective effort from Alokpal and Pradipita.

The game between Kerela and Delhi was also reduced to 42 overs per-side due to the wet outfield. Delhi had a forgettable start, losing three wickets for 33 runs. Dhruv Shorey played a scintillating inning of 71 runs, which helped Delhi post 177 on the board. In reply, Kerela skipper Sachin Baby was strong and eventually helped his side break Delhi’s winning streak and won the game by 2 wickets.

Karnataka started the day with a superlative batting display from their openers as both Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair registered three-figure marks and helped their side reach a mammoth total of 353 runs. With a target in excess of 350 on the board, Odisha were on the backfoot and, were not able to capitalize when it was their chance to bat. Jagadeesha Suchith picked up a fifer for himself as the opposition tumbled for a mere score of 220.

Punjab won a nail-biting encounter against Assam to register their third win the tournament. This win helped Punjab to stay in the contest. Having been put in to bat first, Manan Vohra played some delightful shots all around the ground which eventually helped his side post a defendable total of 275 runs. Having bowlers like Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul, it was never easy for Assam to pull back. Few cameos in the middle didn’t help Assam open their winning account in the tournament so far.

Baroda vs Railways game witnessed a one-way affair in favour of Baroda. Banking on huge tons by Kedar Devdhar and skipper Deepak Hooda helped them post 357 runs. In reply, no one really got going for Railways as wickets fell in quick succession. In the other Group B encounter, Himachal and Maharashtra was a washout with persistent rain.

Brief Scores

Bengal v Tripura

Bengal: 249/10 in 33 overs (Vivek Singh 84; A Chakarborty 7/40)

Tripura: 140/10 in 29 overs (Joydeep 51; Alok Pratap 4/36)

Delhi v Kerela

Delhi: 177/10 in 39.3 overs (D Shorey 71; Nidheesh 4/41)

Kerela: 178/8 in 35.4 overs (Sacin Baby 52; Navdeep Saini 4/39)

Punjab v Assam

Punjab: 275/9 in 50 overs (Manan Vohra 78; Arup Das 2/34)

Assam: 206/10 in 41.4 overs (Riyan Parag 59; Mayank 3/39)

Karnataka v Odisha

Karnataka: 353/6 in 50 overs (Mayank Agarwal 102; D Pradhan 2/69)

Odisha: 220/10 in 41 overs (Anurag 58; J Suchith 5/34)

Baroda v Railways

Baroda: 357/7 in 50 overs (Deepak Hooda 161; A Yadav 2/80)

Railways: 165/10 in 37 overs (A Ghosh 69; Atit Seth 2/37)

Himachal Pradesh v Maharashtra

(Match abandoned with a ball being bowled due to wet outfield)