Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018/19: Indrajith's century goes in vain, Priyank Panchal sizzles
Tamil Nadu captain Baba Indrajith's century wasn't enough as his side fell short by eight runs while Priyank Panchal's 84 helped Gujarat seal a comfortable 8-wicket win over Rajasthan. Jharkhand and Gujarat maintained their unbeaten start to the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018/19 season while Services stunned Bengal, who lost their first game of the tournament.
Here is a complete summary of what went down in the Vijay Hazare Trophy today.
Captain's century in vain
Chasing 308 for victory against table-toppers Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu knew that their top order had to step up. Although Abhinav Mukund scored a fifty and captain Baba Indrajith scored a century, Tamil Nadu still fell short by eight runs as they were bowled out for 299 in 49.5 overs.
Earlier, Jharkhand won the toss and elected to bat first at the SSN College Ground in Chennai. The openers put on 83 for the first wicket before captain Ishan Kishan and Virat Singh put on 104 for the second wicket. That set the ideal platform the side even if Kishan fell for 85 and Virat soon followed him two shy of his fifty. They crossed the 300 mark thanks to a late cameo from Anukul Roy while Varun was once again amongst the wickets as he finished with 3/61.
Tamil Nadu lost wickets at regular intervals but were still on course for victory after 40 overs with five wickets in hand. But once Indrajith fell in the 49th over soon after completing his century, along with him went their chances of victory.
Priyank Panchal, Hardik Patel star for Gujarat
Rajasthan's decision to bat first didn't work out for them at the IIT Chemplast in Chennai as they limped to 179/9 in their 50 overs. After a slow start, Hardik Patel ran through the Rajasthan top-order to reduce them to 34/5 in the 17th over.
Courtesy of an unbeaten 82 from CP Singh, Rajasthan played out their 50 overs and it was Hardik Patel, who was the star of the show as he finished with figures of 5/22 in his 10 overs, which included two maidens.
Chasing 180 for victory, Gujarat lost skipper Parthiv Patel off the first ball of the chase. Then Priyank Panchal and Kshitij Patel put on 163 for the second wicket to all but seal the victory. Panchal fell for 85 but the latter got his side over the line with 10 overs and eight wickets to spare.
Brief scores:
Chennai: Jharkhand 307/8 in 50 overs (Ishan Kishan 85, Saurabh Tiwary 54, CV Varun 3/61, M Mohammed 2/41) beat Tamil Nadu 299 in 49.5 overs (B Indrajith 101, Abhinav Mukund 63, Anukul Roy 3/55, Varun Aaron 3/63) by eight runs.
Chennai: Gujarat 180/2 in 40 overs (Kshitij Patel 89*, Priyank Panchal 84) beat Team Rajasthan 179/9 in 50 overs (CP Singh 82*, Chetan Bist 44, Hardik Patel 5/22) by eight wickets.
Chennai: Bengal 129 after 38 overs (AR Easwaran 34, Varun Choudhary 3/23, AP Sharma 3/30) lost to Services 130/2 after 22 overs (Rajat Paliwal 58*, RS Gahlaut 53*) by eight wickets.