Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018: Bengal tie with Kerala; Delhi post big win against Tripura
Bengal and Kerala played out a scintillating tie at Nadaun with both teams remaining locked at 235 at the end of 50 overs. Kerala batted first but had only one major contribution from their batsmen, an innings of 100* which came from in-form opener, Jalaj Saxena. They never batted at a convincing tempo with nobody from the top four, including Saxena, striking at even eighty. The next highest score after Saxena's hundred, with 10 fours, was 34 from Sanju Samson.
Quick runs from Mohammed Azharuddeen, with 28 off 20, took Kerala to 235 as Bengal floundered in the modest run chase. Four scores in the twenties were not enough with only captain Manoj Tiwary getting to 73*. With one to get off the last ball, number nine Kanishk Seth was run out going for a single as the match ended in neither team's favour.
Delhi made a target of 299 look like a hundred runs less by thrashing Tripura by 7 wickets with more than ten overs to spare. Half-centuries from opener Bishal Ghosh (84), Yashpal Singh (61) and Gurinder Singh (54*) propelled Tripura's score to 298/7 with the opposition captain Pradeep Sangwan leaking 2/81 from 10 overs. A steady start from Delhi meant the entire top four crossed fifty, most notably Nitish Rana hammering 94* from 60 balls and Rishabh Pant bashing 56 off 28. Openers Unmukt Chand (55) and Hiten Dalal (76) set the tone well as Delhi soared to a win at Dharamsala.
Brief Scores
Group B
Kerala 235/6 in 50 overs (Saxena 100*, Samson 34; Tiwary 2/23) tied with Bengal 235/8 in 50 overs (Tiwary 73*, W Chatterjee 35; Warrier 2/35)
Delhi 300/3 in 39.1 overs (N Rana 94*, Dalal 76; U Bose 2/40) beat Tripura 298/7 in 50 overs (B Ghosh 84, Yashpal 61; Khejroliya 2/51) by 7 wickets
Maharashtra 343/5 in 50 overs (Bawne 117*, Shaikh 69; Saurabh 2/51) beat Uttar Pradesh 238 in 44.3 overs (Saif 49; Kazi 3/38, Bachhav 2/25) by 105 runs
Group A
Odisha 213/8 in 47 overs (G Poddar 64, Samantray 38; Manjeet 5/25) beat Railways 212 in 47.4 overs (A Ghosh 48; Raut 3/45, Pradhan 2/45) by 2 wickets
Haryana 251/8 in 49.5 overs (Rohilla 96, Bishnoi 44; Markande 2/37) beat Punjab 247/9 in 50 overs (Yuvraj 43, Gurkeerat 42; J Yadav 2/31) by 2 wickets
Karnataka 312/9 in 50 overs (Agarwal 109, Samarth 77; Arothe 4/59) beat Baroda 180/8 in 37 overs (Devdhar 48; Gowtham 4/42, Gopal 3/30) by 85 runs (VJD Method)