Parthiv’s ton, Bumrah fifer helps Gujarat lift maiden Vijay Hazare title

Brief Scores: Gujarat 273 all-out in 50 overs beat Delhi 134 all-out in 32.3 overs

After winning the toss, Delhi Captain Gautam Gambhir opted to field first sighting dew issues later into the night. His strategy seemed to work as Navdeep Saini struck the timber early on to dismiss Priyank Krit Panchal in the seventh over. Bhargav Merai followed suit after being caught plumb in front of the wicket, by Ishant Sharma two overs later.

From there on Parthiv Patel, and Rujul Bhatt struck the right chords to build a good 149-run partnership. Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel scored a fluent 105 off 119 deliveries, while Rujul Bhatt stood firm at the other end to score a steady half century (60 off 74 balls). Rujul’s dismissal by Nitish Rana, led to a minor batting collapse, and Gujarat soon found themselves struggling at 224/6. However, Chirag Gandhi steadied the innings by scoring 44 important runs to take his side to a fighting total of 273.

The momentum continued in favour of Gujarat, as Rudra Pratap Singh bowled out Rishabh Pant with a brilliant in-swinger on the very first delivery of the second innings. After Pant's wicket, Rash Kalaria produced another wonderful chance by sneaking a nick from Unmukt Chand only to be foiled by a dropped catch by Rujul Bhatt.

The duo of RP Singh and Rash Kalaria were bowling in tandem, and they managed to restrict Delhi to a paltry score of 31/3 at the end of ten overs. RP Singh's bowling was spot-on as he picked his fourth wicket on the first ball of the eleventh over to reduce the Delhi side to 31/4. Last match’s hero Unmukt Chand’s resistance at the other end was also broken in the 17th over with Jasprit Bumrah sending the stumps cartwheeling.

The tailenders followed the precedent set by the top order batsmen and returned to the dressing room faster than they arrived. Some lusty blows from Pawan Negi before the end to score a brisk fifty was the only cheer for a limited crowd at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, which turned up expecting a tight contest in the final. Bumrah ended Negi’s innings in the 33rd over to complete his five-wicket haul and to clinch Gujarat’s maiden Vijay Hazare title.