Vijay Hazare: Vidarbha to meet Saurashtra in quarters

Summary of results of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches played on Sunday.

Pacer Yash Thakur got timely breakthroughs in his four-wicket haul as Vidarbha defeated Tripura by 34 runs to enter the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Jaipur on Sunday.

Vidarbha will now face Saurashtra in the quarter-final on December 22.

Batting first, Vidarbha rode on half-centuries by Yash Rathod (57 off 63 balls) and Atharva Taide (51 off 58 balls) to post a decent 258/7 on the board and then bowled the opposition out for 224 in 49.2 overs despite a 96 run opening stand.

But it was Thakur (4/45), who then grabbed three quick wickets and derailed the opposition. Tripura also had two run-outs in the process as they slipped to 164/6 in 38.3 overs and never recovered from thereon.

At the onset, Vidarbha lost in-form skipper Faiz Fazal (0) in the second over as the side was poised at 1/1.

Then Taide and one-down Ganesh Satish (40 off 70 balls; 4x4) played responsibly and steadied the innings with their 81-run stand.

Taide, who hammered seven boundaries, was the more aggressive one even as Satish played a perfect second fiddle.

But when it looked like the duo would score big, Amit Ali (1/42) trapped Satish in front of the wicket in the 22nd over.

They pegged back Vidarbha by removing a well-set Taide, who was caught by Bikram Kumar Das (61) off seamer Manisankar Murasingh (2/41). Vidarbha was in a spot of bother at 104/3.

Then Rathod (5x4) and wicket-keeper Akshay Wadkar (41 off 59 balls; 3x4) not only brought back Vidarbha into contention but ensured that their bowlers had a total to defend.

The duo added 92 runs for the fourth wicket as they toyed with the Tripura attack.

Courtesy their partnership, Vidarbha neared the 200-run mark. But Tripura struck twice by removing both Rathod and Wadkar in quick succession as they slipped to 206/5.

Then Apoorv Wankhede (26) and Aditya Sarvate (25 not out) added 44 runs for the sixth wicket in just five overs which helped Vidarbha cross the 250-run mark.

Chasing 259, Tripura were off to a fine start with openers Bishal Ghosh (44) and Das adding 96 for the first wicket.

After Ghosh departed, former Gujarat batter Samit Gohil (32) joined Das, as the two added another 49 runs. But then Thakur struck in quick succession to turn the match head on.

Darshan Nalkande (3/41) ran through the lower-order and scripted a memorable win for his side. 

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 258/7 (Yash Rathod 57; Atharva Taide 51; Rana Dutta 2/47; MB Mura Singh 2/41) beat Tripura 224 (Bikram Kumar Das 61; Yash Thakur 4/45, Darshan Nalkande 3/41) by 34 runs.

Karnataka beat Rajasthan by eight wickets, set up QF clash with TN

Jaipur: Karnataka rode on half-centuries from K V Siddharth (85 not out), skipper Manish Pandey (52 not out) and R Samarth (54) to sail into the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Rajasthan on Sunday.

Chasing 200 for victory in the pre-quarterfinal, Karnataka eased home with more than six overs to spare.

Earlier, sent in to bat, Rajasthan's total of 199 was built on a brilliant counter-attacking knock of 109  (nine fours and five sixes) by captain Deepk Hooda after the team slipped to 19 for 5.

Karnataka, bolstered by the return of K Gowtham, Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna, had Rajasthan in all sorts of bother at 19 for 5 in the eighth over.

Krishna struck the first blow, having the in-form Abhijeet Tomar, who has scored over 300 runs including a ton in the tournament, caught by Padikkal for 5.

Right-arm medium-pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak (4/22) scalped the next four wickets, including that of Mahipal Lomror (4), as Rajasthan was staring down the barrel, losing half the side in the eighth over.

Hooda, who had come in at the fall of the second wicket (Manender Singh), was joined by Samarpit Joshi and the duo began to rebuild. While the captain wasn't afraid to go for the big hits, Joshi (33 off 63 balls) gave him ample support.

The two added 118 runs for the sixth wicket to give some hope to Rajasthan against a strong Karnataka side. The team hundred came up in the 24th over as Hooda and Joshi began to play with confidence.

Despite losing Joshi, Hooda continued to score runs and reached a well-deserved ton in 99 balls. He fell in the 41st over, stumped by S Sharath off leg-spinner Pravin Dubey (1/39) before Gowtham finished the innings off by dismissing Khaleel Ahmed (0).

Karnataka lost the talented Padikkal (4) to Kamlesh Nagarkoti (1/27) even as fellow opener Samarth started brightly with a few boundaries.

Samarth and Siddharth added 75 runs in quick time to put Karnataka on the road to victory.

Pandey then came up with an enterprising half-century and in the company of Siddharth added 100 for the third wicket to take the team home.

Pandey finished the match with a huge six off leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who finished with none for 63 from 9.4 overs.

Karnataka will take on Southern rival Tamil Nadu in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Brief scores: Rajasthan 199 all out in 41.4 overs (Deepak Jagbir Hooda 109, Samarpit Joshi 33; Vijaykumar Vyshak 4 for 22) lost to Karnataka 204 for 2 in 43.3 overs (K V Siddharth 85 not out, R Samarth 54, Manish Pandey 52 not out) by eight wickets.

Nath, Rinku guide UP to quarter-finals with five-wicket win over MP

Jaipur: Experienced Akshdeep Nath's stroke-filed 78 and a responsible unbeaten 58 by Rinku Singh formed the cornerstone of Uttar Pradesh's five-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh in the pre-quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Sunday.

With the win, Uttar Pradesh qualified for the quarter-finals of the national ODI championship and will now take on Himachal on December 21.

First, despite Shubham Sharma's responsible 83, Madhya Pradesh were bundled out for a sub-par 234 as UP bowlers wreaked havoc on their lower order.

Nath then anchored the chase and Rinku gave the finishing touches as they saw their side home.

Put into bat at the Jaipuria Vidhyalaya ground here, Madhya Pradesh was teetering at 0/1 after ace speedster Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/46) castled opener Abhishek Bhandari (0) in the first over.

Rameez Khan (35 off 68 balls) and in-form Shubham Sharma (83 off 99 balls) then rallied the innings with their 73-run stand for the second wicket.

The duo took on the Uttar Pradesh attack with gusto, while Rameez hammered four fours, Sharma's patient knock was laced with 10 boundaries.

When it looked like the duo would score big, Khan was run-out in the 20th over, with MP poised at 73/2.

Sharma then found an able ally in experienced campaigner Rajat Patidar (46 off 49 balls; 3x4; 1x6) as the duo then conjured 78 runs for the third wicket and rallied the innings.

While Sharma was the cynosure of eyes and toyed with the UP attack, Patidar, who came two-down, played his part to perfection.

However, Shivam Sharma (1/47) castled Shubham in the 34th over to bring his side back into the game. 

The UP bowlers then did not allow MP batters to settle down and grabbed quick wickets of Patidar and Venkatesh Iyer (30) as MP slipped to 204/5.

MP suffered a lower order collapse as they lost the last five wickets for meagre 30 runs and were eventually shot out for 234.

Chasing 235, UP was reeling at 7/2 as pacer Avesh Khan (2/47) struck in the fifth over. Opener Madhav Kaushik (29; 6x4) also wasn't able to convert his start and became medium pacer Venkatesh Iyer's (1/40) only scalp.

Sameer Rizvi (38) and experienced Aksh Deep Nath, who hit seven boundaries and a six, then took the game deep with their 58-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Patidar ran out Rizvi as UP slipped to 101/4.

However, Nath was going strong from one end and was then well-supported by 24-year-old left-handed batter Rinku Singh, who hit five boundaries.

The duo added 97 runs for the fifth wicket and took the game away from MP. Once Nath fell in the 45th over, it was up to Rinku to see the side home.

The southpaw did not disappoint and in company of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (16 not out) ensured that the team chased the target with five balls to spare.

Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 234 (Shubham Sharma 83; Rajat Patidar 46; Yash Dayal 3/35 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/46;) lost to Uttar Pradesh 237/5 (Akshdeep Nath 78; Rinku Singh 58 not out; Avesh Khan 2/47) by 5 wickets.