Vijay Hazare Trophy results roundup: Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya register big wins on rain-marred opening day | 24th September 2019
The opening day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019 saw Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Tripura and Gujarat picking up wins while the encounters at Bengaluru, Vadodara and one game at Dehradun were abandoned due to wet outfields.
With cloudy skies permitting action in Jaipur, five-time champions Tamil Nadu got their campaign off to a positive start with a six-wicket win against Rajasthan, courtesy of fine half-centuries from Abhinav Mukund (75), Baba Aparajith (52) and captain Dinesh Karthik (52 not out) which helped the former chase down a modest target of 262 from 50 overs.
In another clash, the Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat side faced off against Bengal and after putting up 253 on the board, the bowlers, led by a fine show from Roosh Kalaria managed to restrict the Bengal batsmen from running away with the game as Gujarat picked up a fine 38-run win.
Jammu and Kashmir and Tripura met in an Elite Group C clash that saw the latter pull off a nervy 198-run chase with just two wickets in hand after bundling out the Parvez Rasool-led side for just 197.
Yet, the biggest win of the day was a whopping 194-run rout of Sikkim by Meghalaya, who skittled out their opponents for just 124 after setting a massive 319-run target, with Drawaka Ravi Teja registering the first century of the tournament for Meghalaya.
The game between Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram at Dehradun saw the former put up 267/7 on the board from their 50 overs and 15 overs into their chase, Mizoram were placed at 62/2 before rain halted play.
However, owing to continuous rainfall and wet outfields in Bengaluru and Vadodara, the games featuring hosts Karnataka, Delhi, defending champions Mumbai among other teams had to be abandoned, and with the same weather expected to continue, things do not look too bright for tomorrow's clashes.
Here is a culmination of all the results from day 1 of the tournament.
Tamil Nadu v Rajasthan, Elite Group C clash at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur
TN skipper Dinesh Karthik won the toss and opted to put the opposition into bat, which proved to work wonders for his side as a fiery three-wicket spell from pacer Krishnamoorthy Vignesh reduced Rajasthan to 53-4 within the 15th over.
It took a composed half-century from Arjit Gupta (77) to stabilise the innings for his side as he received decent support from Ashok Menaria (35) and Tajinder Singh (29), before Rahul Chahar launched an onslaught and produced a 25-ball 48 laced with two fours and four sixes that took his side to 261/9 from 50 overs.
The five-time champions were rocked early in the chase as N Jagadeesan fell for just 7, but a 114-run partnership between Abhinav Mukund (75) and Baba Aparajith (52) steadied the chase, after which the duo of Dinesh Karthik (52*) and Shahrukh Khan (48*) stitched a 100-run partnership for the 5th wicket that helped their side register a comfortable six-wicket win.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 262/4 from 48 overs (Abhinav Mukund 75, Dinesh Karthik 52*, Abhimanyu Lamba 1/41) beat Rajasthan 261/9 from 50 overs (Arjit Gupta 77, Rahul Chahar 48, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh 3/43) by six wickets.
Gujarat v Bengal, Elite Group C clash at Jaipuria Vidyalaya Ground in Jaipur
Gujarat were put in to bat by Bengal skipper Sudip Chatterjee as Parthiv Patel and Kathan Patel put up a 45-run partnership for the opening wicket. However, both the openers were sent back in consecutive overs that piled pressure on Gujarat.
Bhargav Merai (63) and Manprit Juneja (47) held the anchor in the middle for an imperative 95-run partnership, before an 18-ball 26 run cameo from veteran tweaker Piyush Chawla took his side to 253/8 from 50 overs. Ashoke Dinda, with figures of 3/58 was the pick of the bowlers for Bengal.
The Gujarat bowlers were on top of their game in their defence of the 215-run target as Roosh Kalaria impressed with 4/34 from his 8.2 overs, and despite a 112-ball 79 from Shreevats Goswami, none of the other batsmen could convert their starts as Bengal fell short by 38 runs in the end.
Brief scores: Gujarat 253/8 from 50 overs ( Bhargav Merai 63, Manprit Juneja 47, Ashoke Dinda 3/58) beat Bengal 215 from 46.2 overs (Sreevats Goswami 79, Anustup Majumdar 39, Roosh Kalaria 4/34) by 38 runs.
Jammu and Kashmir v Tripura, Elita Group C clash at KL Saini Ground, Jaipur
Tripura skipper Manisankar Murasingh won the toss and opted to field first, thereby handing his side a good opportunity to make the most use of the seaming conditions on offer. The Tripura bowlers, led by Harmeet Singh (3/32) were on top of their mark as they hardly let the opposition batsmen off the hook and skittled them out for just 197 from 43.2 overs.
The Jammu and Kashmir bowlers took a leaf out of the Tripura bowlers' books as they reduced their opposition to 35/4 from 13.3 overs, but an important 99-run partnership between opener Bishal Ghosh (62) and Milind Kumar (77) brought the chase back on track.
However, Mohammad Mudhasir picked up two wickets in a row in the 43rd over that left Jammu and Kashmir needing 11 runs to win with two wickets in hand. In the end, the tailenders managed to hold on to their nerves as they celebrated a thrilling two-wicket win.
Brief scores: Tripura 198/8 from 44.1 overs (Milind Kumar 77, Bishal Ghosh 62, Umar Nazir Mir 3/45) beat Jammu and Kashmir 197/10 from 43.2 overs (Qamran Iqbal 43, Harmeet Singh 3/32, Ajoy Sarkar 2/31) by two wickets.
Meghalaya v Sikkim, Plate Clash at Tanush Academy Ground in Dehradun
Meghalaya were asked to bat first by Sikkim but were dealt an early blow as they were reduced to 70-3, with the top three batsmen back in the hut. However, a 99-run partnership between centurion Dwaraka Ravi Teja (109) and wicket-keeper Puneet Bisht (74), who were aggressive in their stay at the middle saw Meghalaya grab the momentum.
Post Bisht's dismissal, Ravi Teja did well to stay at the crease as he joined hands with Amiangshu Sen (59) and put up an important 143-run partnership that helped their side cross the 300-run mark and notch up a commanding 318/5 on the board.
Sikkim never got going all throughout the chase as the Meghalaya bowlers kept chipping away with constant wickets and despite a fighting 88-ball 53 from Yashpal Singh, the former fell to a massive 194-run loss.
Brief scores: Meghalaya 318/5 from 50 overs (Dwaraka Ravi Teja 109, Puneet Bisht 74, Bhusan Subba 2/38) beat Sikkim 124 all out from 46.3 overs (Yashpal Singh 53, Aditya Singhania 4/18, Amiangshu Sen 2/31) by 194 runs.
Also See - Vijay Hazare Points Table