Saurashtra and Services rode on all-round to march into the semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday in Jaipur. Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were the other two teams to have made it to the semis earlier in the competition.
Saurashtra vs Vidarbha
Saurashtra bowlers thoroughly dominated the Vidarbha batting unit while bowling first and didn’t really let them take the upper-hand during the course. Vidarbha lost early wickets and were soon left tottering at 86/8 before Wankhade took the responsibility on himself and tried to chip in with some runs. He scored a 69-ball 72 to help his side put 150 on the board before getting bundled out in the 41st over.
Captain Jaydev Unadkat returned with figures of 2/25 in 9 overs while Chetan Sakariya produced an impressive spell of fast bowling as he gave away 12 runs and picked up one wicket in 8 overs. Sakariya bowled 4 maidens during the course.
Saurashtra too suffered some early blows during the chase and were 35/3 in the 10th over before Prerak Mankad and Arpit Vasavada steadied the ship for the side and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 116 runs for the fourth wicket. While Mankad scored 77* off 72 which included a couple of maximums and 10 fours, Vasavada remained not out for 41 off 66 to anchor the side home.
Aditya Thakare picked up two wickets for 13 runs in 8 overs for his side.
Kerala vs Services
Kerala had a disappointing start to the proceedings against Services while batting first after they were reduced to 24/2 in the 7th over. But Kunnummal and Manoharan came in for the side’s rescue and built a stand of 81 runs for the third wicket before Manoharan was sent back in the hut for 41 off 54. The Kerala side then lost the plot as wickets went down at regular intervals to eventually get bowled out for 175 in the 41st over.
Kunnummal top-scored with 85 off 106 for Kerala while Dinesh Pathania was the pick of the bowlers for Services as he scalped three wickets for 19 runs in 8 overs.
Later, the Services had early hiccups as they were 12/2 in the first two overs but Ravi Chauhan and skipper Rajat Paliwal came in for the rescue and stitched a partnership of 144 runs for the third wicket before Chauhan was sent back for 95 off 90. Paliwal on the other side remained unbeaten at 65 off 86 as Services etched a win by 7 wickets eventually.