Vijay Hazare Trophy: Haryana And Vidarbha Qualifies For The Semi Finals
Haryana finally advances into the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with an ever-so-close win while chasing down 197 at Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. Himanshu Rana’s iconic 66 played a substantial role in the victory, but the true turning point came from the explosive three wickets from bowlers such as Nishant Sindhu and Anuj Thakral. Anshul Kamboj also chipped in with two wickets.
Haryana at 173 for 3 looked comfortable when Gujarat staged a comeback grabbing five wickets for just 19 runs led by Arzan Nagwaswalla, Ravi Bishnoi, and Vishal Jayswal. However, Kamboj had other ideas, knocking a six off Jayswal that sealed the match one ball shy of a horrifying spin-out.
The chase began with Arsh Ranga in an attacking mood, scoring 25 runs off five boundaries before getting out. Next was Himanshu Rana, who set up two eventually vital partnerships: first, worth 54 runs with Ankit Kumar, and then a match-high of 55 with Parth Vats before falling to Bishnoi himself.
Vats and Sindhu seemed to have completed the job, yet were dismissed in rapid succession that nearly left an avenue for Gujarat. Axar Patel and Bishnoi tried hard to keep up the pressure with their tight bowling, and Haryana lost three more wickets in quick time. But Haryana held their nerve under firm pressure and came through.
Also Read: Karnataka Qualifies For The Vijay Hazare Semi Finals
Earlier on, Gujarat’s great start was halted with a stand of 45 runs between Aarya Desai and Urvil Patel undone in 8 overs. After that, three more wickets fell for single-digit scores as Gujarat slipped to 84 for 5. Thakral made serious inroads into the middle order. Chintan Gaja and Saurav Chauhan stabilized things with a 34-run partnership. More late fireworks from Hemang Patel (54) and Nagwaswalla saw this partnership add another 54 runs, but all said and done, Gujarat could only manage 197.
Karun Nair and Dhruv Shorey went on to score centuries, finishing on 122 and 118 respectively. Vidarbha smashed Rajasthan in Quarter-Final 2 held at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. They had 292 runs to chase, after which Yash Rathod was dismissed for 39 in the 19th over, allowing the two batsmen to establish a 200-run partnership in around 25 overs. Ajay Singh Kukna was the only one to take wickets for Rajasthan.
Vidarbha eventually succeeded very clinical and professional in their respective chase as it hardly took them much sweat. They took an instant liking to Khaleel Ahmed, who gave away 85 runs in his ten overs. He bowled the last over of his spell for 28 runs that saw Nair punished him with three fours and two sixes. Nair has been in blistering form in this year’s edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring 664 runs in six innings. He clobbered 122 runs today from just 82 deliveries, consisting of 13 fours and five sixes.
Rajasthan never truly recovered from it, as the Vidarbha attack ensured they had them in trouble all throughout. They accounted for Rajasthan’s 291 for 8 in their allotted overs. They never started well, where the side lost its two openers for single-digit scores.
The middle order started to put together an act of recovery for Rajasthan through Deepak Hooda (45), Shubham Garhwal (59), and Kartik Sharma (62) to bring them back into the fight. Thakur struck at commanding intervals, dismissing Garhwal in addition to the lower middle order with final bowling figures of 4 for 39, and as Nalkande had the misfortune to see the back of Kartik. Deepak Chahar remained solid under pressure and blasted 31 runs in 14 balls with three sixes and two fours, taking Rajasthan to 291 after a horrible tumble down the order, but that soon proved to be insufficient against the flailing resistance of Vidarbha.
