Vijay Hazare Trophy Round-up | Incessant rain in Chennai washes out entire day’s play

10/05/2018

Rain played spoilsport in the highly-competitive Group C games in Chennai as all three matches of the group were abandoned. While the rain saved Haryana from a sure loss, it means Manoj Tiwary-led Bengal are out of the reckoning from the qualification to the quarter-final stage of the tournament.

Assam, who have been going through a terrible run of form, wanted to open their account against third-placed Services, but the Rain Gods didn’t relent at all, which means the game was abandoned without a ball being bowled. While Assam is already out of the qualification race, Services would have wanted to secure a win so as to put them at the top two.

However, the result of Services-Assam match being abandoned must have made Haryana happy as they comfortably secured their spot at the top with one match to go. After the delayed start in proceedings, the match was reduced to a 21-overs-a-side affair and skipper Manoj Tiwary's unbeaten half-century led Bengal to a strong total of 140/9 despite wickets falling at regular intervals. Tiwary also got some support from youngster Vivek Singh, who contributed with a handy 30 for the team.

Chasing a target with cloud cover being on was not going to be easy, and Bengal bowlers were not in the mood to let the game slip from their hands as well. A terrific bowling display saw Haryana being reduced to 44 for 5 in nine overs as the required run-rate kept mounting gradually. However, when the north-Indian were at 69 for 6, rain stopped play once again to force the abandonment of the game.

In another game at the TI Cycles Ground in Chennai, the Jharkhand-Tripura match was also abandoned. While Jharkhand are placed at the top the table alongside Haryana, Tripura find themselves in the bottom half of the table with only two wins in eight matches.

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