Yuzvendra Chahal might be despondent after the selectors snubbed him for the T20I series against Australia, but the leg-spinner channelised his angst positively with a six-wicket burst against Uttarakhand as Haryana started their Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign with a six-wicket win in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The 33-year-old's six-wicket haul (10-2-26-6) saw Haryana bundling out Uttarakhand for 207 in their Group C match, and along the way Chahal also completed 200 List A wickets.
It might just help him to stay visible on the selectorial radar.
For Uttarakhand, wicketkeeper batter Aditya Tare made 67 while opener Kunal Chandela chipped in with 47 as Chahal ran through the rest of the order.
The chase was pretty non-frilled as openers Yuvraj Singh (68) and Ankit Kumar (49) gave them a sound platform, while captain Ashok Maneria contributed an unbeaten 44.
Kerala prevail over Saurashtra
In Group A, Kerala went through some struggles before eking out a three-wicket win over Saurashtra at Alur-KSCA Oval in Bengaluru.
Courtesy a gritty 98 off 121 balls by Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, Saurashtra recovered from a precarious 65 for 7 to post a competitive 185 under cloudy skies on a freshly-laid pitch.
Debutant Akhin took 4 for 39 for Kerala to rock their opponents top order, generating good pace and bounce.
Kerala nearly messed up the chase and were at 61 for 4 in the 17th over, but a composed fifty by Abdul Bazith (60 off 76 balls) and an unbeaten 21 by Shreyas Gopal carried them past target with 14 balls to spare.
Mumbai outclass Sikkim
In a Group A match at Alur 2 in Bengaluru, pacer Tushar Deshpande's three-wicket haul helped Mumbai steamroll Sikkim by 7 wickets.
Deshpande's 3 for 19 proved vital as Mumbai shot out Sikkim for 89 in 38.1 overs, and then they chased it down in 12 overs with opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi making a 28-ball 30.
Harshit, Ishant shine for Delhi
In a Group C match at Motera 'A' in Ahmedabad, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma (3/30), his younger colleague Harshit Rana (4/17) and leg-spinner Suyash Sharma (3/19) combined to bowl out Bihar for 149.
Skipper Yash Dhull and openers Anuj Rawat and Priyansh Arya made well-timed knocks as Delhi cantered to the target in just over 22 overs.
Mayank, Samarth spur Karnataka
Openers Mayank Agarwal and Ravikumar Samarth fired in tandem to make big hundreds as Karnataka started their campaign with a big 222-run win over Jammu and Kashmir at Motera 'B' ground in Ahmedabad in a Group C match.
Samarth (123 off 120 balls, 11x4, 2x6), Agarwal (157 off 133 balls, 11x4, 8x6) and Devdutt Padikkal (71, 35 balls, 4x4, 5x6) spurred Karnataka to a mammoth 402 for 2.
It was also their highest-ever List A total.
Pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar then grabbed four wickets as Karnataka bundled out J&K for 180.
All-round Bengal hammer Nagaland
In a Group E match at BKC, Mumbai, captain Sudip Kumar Gharami, who made a 44-ball 62, and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, who struck 57 off 63 balls, assisted Bengal to overcome a mediocre target posted by Nagaland for a nine-wicket victory.
Earlier, pacers Saksham Chaudhary (3/23) and Akash Deep (2/24) shared five wickets among them to bowl out Nagaland to a lowly 139 in 47 overs.
Brief scores:
Group A:
Sikkim: 89 all out in 38.1 overs (Nilesh Lamichaney 29; Tushar Deshpande 3/19, Mohit Avasthi 2/9, Atharva Ankolekar 2/13) lost to Mumbai: 90 for 3 in 12 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 30, Jay Bista 28, Ajinkya Rahane 15 not out) by 7 wickets.
Saurashtra: 185 all out in 49.1 overs (Vishvarajsinh Jadeja 98, Akhin 4/39, Shreyas Gopal 2/29) lost to Kerala: 188 for 7 in 47.4 overs (Abdul Bazith 60, Sanju Samson 30, Shreyas Gopal 21 not out; Ankur Panwar 4/50) by 3 wickets.
Group B:
Maharashtra: 355 for 4 in 50 overs (Ankit Bawane 107, Om Bhosale 73, A.N. Kazi 61) lost to Jharkhand: 359 for 4 in 49 overs (Virat Singh 143, V. Vishal 53, Saurabh Tiwary 70 not out, Kumar Kushagra 67 not out) by 6 wickets.
Group C:
Bihar: 149 all out in 39 overs (Veer Pratap Singh 43; Ishant Sharma 3/30, Harshit Rana 4/17, Suyash Sharma 3/19) lost to Delhi: 150 for 2 in 22.1 overs (Priyansh Arya 45, Yash Dhull 46 not out, Anuj Rawat 33) by 8 wickets.
Karnataka: 402 for 2 in 50 overs (Mayank Agarwal 157, R Samarth 123, Devdutt Padikkal 71) beat J&K: 180 all out in 30.4 overs (Vivrant Sharma 41, Yudhvir Singh 64; Vysakh Vijayakumar 4/57) by 222 runs.
Uttarakhand: 207 all out in 47.4 overs (Aditya Tare 65, Kunal Chandela 47; Yuzvendra Chahal 6/26) lost to Haryana: 208/4 in 45 overs (Yuvraj Singh 68, Ankit Kumar 49, Ashok Maneria 44 not out) by 6 wickets.
Group D:
Baroda: 214 for 9 in 50 overs (Shivalik Sharma 51, Krunal Pandya 49, Abhimanyu Singh 38; Baltej Singh 4/27) beat Punjab: 211 all out in 49 overs (Nehal Wadhera 49, Siddharth Kaul 47; BA Pathan 3/50) by 3 runs.
Group E:
Nagaland: 139 all out in 47 overs (Sumit Kumar 36; Saksham Chaudhary 3/23, Akash Deep 2/24) lost to Bengal: 143 for 1 in 18.5 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 57 not out, Sudip Kumar Gharami 62 not out) by 9 wickets.
