Tamil Nadu, Services knocked out of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018
The action continued in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India's domestic 50-over tournament. With the tournament closing in on the knock-out stages, teams sealed their positions for the semis, while the others, already out of contention, locked horns for pride.
Here is a summary of today's games:
Haryana 310-5 (Tewatia 91, Varun 2-55) beat Tamil Nadu 233-9 (Mukund 47, Tewatia 2-27) by 77 runs.
Rahul Tewatia's belligerent knock, coupled with a combined effort from the Haryana bowlers, ousted Tamil Nadu out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018. Tewatia's 59-ball 91, along with Himanshu Rana's 89, powered Haryana to 310-5, a total Tamil Nadu fell short by 77 runs.
The Haryana openers started slow, and lost their first wicket in the 14th over, but Tewatia and Rana's 141 run-stand ensured that the side went past 300 in their 50 overs.
In response, TN's experienced duo of Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund got starts, but could not capitalise on them, with the latter top-scoring with a 47. Apart from him, and captain Vijay Shankar, none of the batsmen crossed 40, as lack of partnership restricted them to 119.
Tripura 209 (B Ghosh 100, A Das 3-25) lost to Assam 211-2 (R Das 87*) by 8 wickets.
A century from Bishal Ghosh was not enough to hand Tripura a victory in their clash against Assam, as a sub-par target was achieved with more than five overs to spare by the top four Assam batsmen.
Despite it being a dead-rubber, the Assam bowlers ensured that the pressure stayed on the Tripura batsmen in the first innings, resulting in them losing three wickets for four runs. It was Ghosh, who, along with captain Udiyan Bose, saved the side the blushes, pushing them past 200.
The response was straightforward from Assam, with two of their batsmen posting 80+ scores - opener Riyan Parag found company in Rishav Das, as their 104 run partnership helped the side cruise home to an eight-wicket win.
Services 139 (R Chauhan 47, Rahul Chahar 5/29) lost to Rajasthan 140/3 (MN Singh 83*) by 7 wickets.
Any hopes Services had of making it through to the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 were dashed as they were thrashed by Rajasthan in their penultimate group game. Needing a win to stay alive, Services were bowled out for 139 and it turned out to be a straightforward chase for Rajasthan.
Rahul Chahar ran through the Services batting line-up and finished with figures of 5/29 as only five batsmen got into double digits. Services were put out of their misery in the 42nd over.
In response, Rajasthan lost an early wicket but MN Singh's unbeaten 83 helped them comfortably get over the line with seven wickets and seven overs to spare.