Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 Round-Up: Jharkhand, Hyderabad reach semifinals with convincing victories
The Vijay Hazare Trophy is nearing its conclusion as the final two quarter-finals took place today in Bengaluru. While the match between Maharashtra and Jharkhand took place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the match between Andhra and Hyderabad took place at the Just Cricket Academy.
Maharashtra, who were put into bat first, managed to score just 181 runs on the board. Maharashtra's top-order failed with neither of the top four batsmen managing to make a significant contribution. It was Rohit Motwani and Rahul Tripathi who revived the innings in the middle. However, they weren't able to stick around for too long, scoring 52 and 47 respectively.
Jharkhand achieved an easy eight-wicket victory in the end by the VJD method, thanks to a half-century by Shasheem Sanjay Rathour, who scored 53.
In the fourth quarter-final between Andhra and Hyderabad, the former won the toss and opted to field first. Hyderabad managed to reach a highly respectable total of 281 in 50 overs. Bavanaka Sandeep was the top-scorer with 96 runs to his name. The other batsmen contributed as well but none of them were able to each their half-century.
In response, Hanuma Vihari played extremely well en-route his 95-run knock but was not able to take his side over the line. They managed to score 267 in their 50 overs, thus falling short of the target by 14 runs. Ricky Bhui contributed with the bat as well, scoring a fine half-century.
With the ball, it was Mohammed Siraj once again who was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets to his name. Ravi Kiran chipped in with two wickets as well.
In the semifinals which will be held in Bengaluru on October 17 and 18, Delhi will take on Hyderabad in the first semifinal while Mumbai will take on Jharkhand in the second semifinal.
The final will take place on October 20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Brief scores:
Jharkhand 127-2 def. Maharashtra 181 all out by 8 wickets (VJD method)
Hyderabad 281-8 def. Andhra 267-9 by 14 runs