Vijay Hazare Trophy | Haryana defeat Tamil Nadu to make quarters; Assam register first win

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Haryana v Tamil Nadu

Brief scores: Haryana 310/6 in 50 overs (Himanshu Rana 89*, Rahul Tewatia 91*; Varun 2/55) beat Tamil Nadu 233/9 in 50 overs (Abhinav Mukund 47, Vijay Shankar 44; Tewatia 2/27, Jayant Yadav 2/37) by 77 runs

In what was a do-or-die encounter for both teams, Haryana emerged out on top as they defeated Tamil Nadu by 77 runs at IIT Chemplast to book a spot in the last eight of this year’s Vijay Hazare Trophy. A blistering innings by Haryana’s Rahul Tewatia towards the end of the innings tilted the game in favour of Haryana as the all-rounder scored a quickfire 59-ball 91 to guide his team to the knockout stages.

Haryana, who won the toss and elected to bat first, failed to get off to a good start as the opening batsman began rather cautiously. Their innings was brought to life after number four batsman Himanshu Rana got the things going. His positive attitude brought the rest of the batsmen, especially Tewatia, to life in the latter stages of the first innings. At number seven, Tewatia and Rana added 141 runs in 92 balls that took Haryana to a total of 310.

Tamil Nadu knew they had a tough task ahead of them and they did not get off to the best of starts either. Opener N Jagadeesan departed in the second over itself for just one run. Mukund and Murali Vijay steadied the innings midway, but two quick wickets put Vijay Shankar’s side in trouble once again. After that, Tamil Nadu kept losing wickets at regular intervals and ultimately fell short by 77 runs. Tewatia chipped in with the ball as well and picked up two wickets for 27 runs.

Assam v Tripura

Brief scores: Tripura 209 in 49.1 overs (Bishal Ghosh 100; Arup Das 3/25, Abu Nechim 3/35) lost to Assam 211/2 in 44.1 overs (Riyan Parag 82, Rishav Das 87*) by 8 wickets.

Assam recorded the first win of their maiden Vijay Hazare campaign after they narrowly outplayed Tripura by 8 wickets at Murugappa Ground in Chennai on Tuesday. Assam's bowling display was enough to deny Tripura a win in today’s match.

Tripura won the toss and chose to bat first. They got off to a steady start, thanks to openers Bishal Gosh and Smit Patel. Despite losing three quick wickets, a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket still kept them in the game. However, the Assam bowlers did not allow the lower middle order to add too many runs to the scoreboard and bowled them out for 209. Ghosh was the only batsman to show some grit and reached his hundred in the 48th over.

Chasing a target of 210, Assam started the chase in epic style despite losing Abhijit Roy early on in the innings for six runs. Fellow opener Riyan Parag and Rishav Das stitched a 104-run partnership to set the tone. The latter continued batting and remained unbeaten on 87 as his side won by eight wickets with six overs to spare.

Services v Rajasthan

Brief scores: Services 139 in 41.1 overs (Ravi Chauhan 47; Rahul Chahar 5/29, Rajesh Bishnoi 2/25) lost to Rajasthan 140/3 in 43 overs (Manendar Singh 83*) by 7 wickets.

Rajasthan ended their tournament on a positive note after they defeated a consistent Services side by seven wickets at SSN College Ground in Chennai on Tuesday. Rajasthan's bowlers were to thank for it after they managed to restrict the Services' batting order, with Rahul Chahar being the pick of the bowlers in today’s victory.

Services started their innings with some firm determination and found themselves in the driving seat at 109/3. Then Rahul Chahar came into the picture and after claiming the wicket of opener Nakul Verma early on, the leg-spinner kick-started the collapse after dismissing batsman Rajat Paliwal as well. Chahar went on to pick three wickets in seven balls to break Services' middle order. In the end, Services could only manage to score 139, as Chahar finished with 5 for 29.

Chasing such a meagre target, Rajasthan lost opener Amitkumar Gautam early on in the innings. However, Abhijeet Tomar and Manendar Singh kept their cool and made sure things were on track. The latter remained unbeaten on 83 as Rajasthan reached the target with 7 overs to spare.