Heavyweights Delhi are in danger of being eliminated at the group league stage after being beaten by Himachal Pradesh by 13 runs in the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare One-day championship in Dharamsala, on Monday.
The Gautam Gambhir-led team has now lost two of their three zonal matches, beaten in the opening round game by Jammu and Kashmir before winning against Punjab in the next.
They could be eliminated from the National One-day championship for the second season running, having failed to cross the initial hurdle in the last edition too.
Batting first, Delhi amassed 244 for six in 50 overs, opener Raghav Dhawan scoring 89 off 120 balls, including nine fours and two sixes. Ashish Nehra was clobbered for 68 runs from 10 overs.
In reply, Gambhir (23) and Sehwag (11) continued their poor form with the bat as Delhi were all out for 231 in 50 overs, with Raghav picking up three for 47.
India ‘A’ player Rishi Dhawan and former IPL player Vikramjit Malik got two wickets each.
While Gambhir was caught by Sumeet Verma off Raghav's bowling, Sehwag, who again dropped himself down to No 3, could score only 11 before being run-out by Verma.
The saving grace for Delhi was Milind Kumar, who scored 69 off 94 balls with five boundaries and a six. However, Milind batted a tad too slow and it was left to Rajat Bhatia (run-a-ball 34) to prop the scoring. He did that for some time before he was cleaned up by medium pacer Pankaj Jaiswal.
Brief Score:
Himachal Pradesh: 244-6 (Raghav Dhawan 89, Ashish Nehra 1/68).
Delhi: 231 in 50 overs (Milind Kumar 69, Gautam Gambhir 23, Virender Sehwag 11).
Himachal Pradesh won by 13 runs.
Nagpur: Leggie Karn Sharma celebrated his India call-up by guiding Railways to a five-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh in a Central Zone match.
Sharma, who was selected for India's last two ODIs against Sri Lanka and the tour of Australia, took three wickets before hitting a 32-run cameo in his team's victory.
Railways raced past Madhya Pradesh's 241 for five with 14 balls to spare.
It was Railways' third win in as many games while Madhya Pradesh suffered their second loss in a row.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha, who finds himself in the squad for the first Test against Australia, struck a solid 61 off 86 balls in a losing cause.
Ojha and his opening partner Jalaj Saxena shared a 118-run stand but the other batsmen could not capitalise on their good start.
Opener Asad Pathan made Railways' chase much easier by hammering 63 off 36 balls.
Brief score:
Madhya Pradesh: 241 for five (Naman Ojha 61, Jalaj Saxena 61; Karn Sharma 3/47).
Railways: 245 for 5 in 47.4 overs (Asad Pathan 63, Karna Sharma 32 not out; Ishwar Pandey 2/49, Jalaj Saxena 2/37).
Railways won by 5 wickets
Dagar century helps UP beat Rajasthan by 75 runs
Nagpur: Uttar Pradesh rode on opener Mukul Dagar's fine century and a clinical display by their bowlers to beat Rajasthan by 75 runs in a Central Zone leg match.
Put in to bat, Uttar Pradesh piled up 283 for eight, with Dagar hitting 106 from 122 balls with the help of 13 fours.
Parvinder Singh contributed 60 from 55 balls down the order.
Dagar and Parvinder shared 103 runs for the fourth wicket from 15.4 overs to take Uttar Pradesh to a big total at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
For Rajasthan, Pankaj Singh grabbed four wickets for 52 runs while S C Gehlot took two wickets for 53 runs.
Chasing a stiff target of 284 for victory, Rajasthan lost wickets at regular intervals and their batsmen were tied down by a disciplined effort by the UP bowlers.
P R Yadav (50) and D H Yagnik (53 not out) scored half centuries but at the end, Rajasthan fell short of the target by a huge margin.
For UP, pacer R P Singh was the pick of the bowlers, claiming three wickets for 33 runs while Ankit Rajpoot took two for 33 runs.
Brief Score:
Uttar Pradesh: 283 for 8 in 50 overs (Mukul Dagar 106, Parvinder Singh 60; Pankaj Singh 4/52, S C Gehlot 2/53).
Rajasthan: 208 for 8 in 50 overs (P R Yadav 50, D H Yagnik 53 not out; R P Singh 3/33, Ankit Rajpoot 2/36).
Uttar Pradesh won by 75 runs.
Mandeep scores ton as Punjab beat Jammu and Kashmir
Bilaspur: Mandeep Singh struck 103 as Punjab successfully chased down a victory target of 228 to beat Jammu and Kashmir and keep their alive hopes in the North Zone leg.
Batting first, Jammu and Kashmir scored 227 in 49.3 overs, with wicketkeeper-batsman Adil Rishi scoring 67 and Hardeep Singh scored 37. Skipper Parveez Rasool scored 26.
In reply, Punjab hit up the runs in 43 overs, with Mandeep scoring 103 off 115 balls, inclusive of 10 fours and a six, and Yuvraj Singh smashing 40 off 33 balls, which included three fours and three sixes.
Opener and T20 specialist Manan Vohra contributed 52 off 76 balls but was not in his element as he couldn't find the gaps during the initial stages of the innings.
Brief Score:
Jammu and Kashmir: 227 in 49.3 overs (Adil Rishi 67, Navdeep Sidhu 3/42)
Punjab: 233-3 in 43 overs (Mandeep Singh 103, Yuvraj Singh 40).
Punjab won by 7 wickets.
Image: Karn Sharma in Sunrisers Hyderabad colours
Photograph: BCCI
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