Kohli stars in Delhi's victory; Mumbai win
New Delhi, Dec. 27 -- If the first round of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy was all about big scores and even bigger hitting, the second round on Friday served as a leveler of sorts. Rohit Sharma, coming off a belligerent ton in the last game against Sikkim, was dismissed for a golden duck against Uttarakhand. There was no century for Virat Kohli either but his 77 off 61 balls proved to be vital for Delhi against Gujarat.
Mumbai and Delhi went on to win their matches but, as always, there were lessons on offer for those who wished to learn.
This was the match of the day and it went right down to the wire. Gujarat looked all set to get the win, cruising on 213/5 after 41.3 overs with 255 needed to win. Saurav Chauhan and Vishal Jayswal were looking comfortable in the middle.
But that is when Delhi pulled something special out of the bag to bowl Chintan Gala's team out for 247. The seven-run win wouldn't have been possible without the batting heroics of Kohli and Rishabh Pant (70 off 79 balls) to begin with. On a pitch that had something for the bowlers initially, the two international stars gave Delhi a taste of what they are usually missing with knocks the dripped of a higher class.
While Kohli played a fluent knock, Pant stayed in the middle as he looks to relaunch his white-ball career.
Mumbai's first match in Jaipur was about the crowds that turned up to watch and the show that Rohit put on for them. But lightning doesn't strike twice and on Friday, the former India skipper was dismissed for a first-ball duck. It didn't matter eventually as the rest of the batters, led by wicket-keeper Hardik Tamore's unbeaten 93, helped Mumbai put up 331/7 in their essay.
In reply, Yuvraj Chaudhary's 96 gave Uttarakhand a fighting chance but the lost of wickets at regular intervals hurt them as Mumbai went on to win by 51 runs.
Though Mumbai went on to win comfortably, opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi had to be rushed to hospital after an awkward fall left him with an injured neck and concussion.
The 21-year-old was attempting a difficult catch in the 30th over, when Saurabh Rawat's attempted a slog-sweep off Tanush Kotian's bowling. Raghuvanshi sprinted forward from his deep mid-wicket position, but his one-handed effort eventually resulted in him hitting his head on the ground.
He was rushed to the SDMH Hospital, but was discharged later after scans suggested no serious injury.
Rinku Singh hasn't got as many opportunities as he would have wanted in international cricket and the only way to change that is to go out and get some big runs in domestic cricket. In the match against Chandigarh, the left-hander struck a brilliant 106, including 11 fours and four sixes, off just 60 balls.
Dhruv Jurel also weighed in with a fine 67 off 57 balls as UP, having been put in to bat first, ended up making 367/4. In reply, Chandigarh were bowled out for 140 with the leg-spinning duo of Zeeshan Ansari (4/29) and Vipraj Nigam (2/35) doing the major damage.
Devdutt Padikkal is in the form of his life. He scored his second successive century to help Karnataka chase down another big total. In his last six innings spread over VHT and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20), the left-hander has three centuries, two fifties and a 32. That is some run and it tells you why even the national selectors are keeping a close eye on him.
Karun Nair continues to score runs in domestic cricket and his run-a-ball 130 showed that he isn't lacking motivation. A spot in the India squad may have come and gone but his batting still has a touch of class.
Another thriller that had everyone on the edge of their seats. When No.11 Aryaman Dhaliwal joined No.10 Vaibhav Arora in the middle, Himachal needed 20 runs to win but the last wicket pair could add just 11 before the former was dismissed.
Goa were in early trouble but a partnership between Suyash Prabhudessai (51) and Lalit Yadav (104) got them back on track. Skipper Deepraj Gaonkar's 48-ball 71 played a vital role in making it a competitive total. In reply, Pukhraj Mann scored 126 but didn't get the kind of support he needed from other batters....
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