UP win two-run thriller with last ball run-out

Punjab were able to defend 168 against Jammu & Kashmir in a 23-over reduced contest, winning by 48 runs. The Punjab openers compiled a 102-run stand after being put in to bat. Ravi Inder Singh top-scored with an aggressive 60 off 41 balls as Punjab ended up scoring 168 for eight in their 23 overs.

J&K were unable to string together useful partnerships as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Parvez Rasool scored 33, with the next highest being opener Shubham Khajuria's 25, as J&K batsmen were dismissed for 120. Yuvraj Singh was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 19.

The match between Haryana and Services was abandoned without a ball bowled, due to rain. Haryana are currently languishing near the bottom of the table as they lost their only full game, while suffering two no-results because of inclement weather. Services have also been hit with two no-results but are second in the table, tied on points with Delhi.

Delhi and Himachal Pradesh's match was abandoned due to rain. Rainy weather has already caused a number of no-results early in this Vijay Hazare Trophy for North Zone. Delhi are on top of the table, ahead of Services on net run-rate. Himachal have yet to win a game in the competition.

Rajasthan completed a convincing, 78-run victory over Vidarbha. Vidarbha's decision to field first almost paid dividends as Rajasthan collapsed to 61 for 6. Fast bowler Shrikant Wagh took his maiden five-wicket haul, claiming five of the first six wickets to finish with figures of 6 for 42. However, Raman Chahar, who top-scored with 43, Madhur Khatri and Gajendra Singh then added some crucial runs before Rajasthan were all out for 208 in 46 overs.

Vidarbha's innings started solidly, with Fazal and Akshay Kolhar putting on 62 for the first wicket. However once Fazal was bowled by Khatri Vidarbha lost nine wickets for 68 runs as they folded for 130. Spinners Khatri and Gajendra played a decisive role once again, as they claimed career-best figures of 4 for 25 and 4 for 28 respectively.

A run out off the last ball gave Uttar Pradesh a thrilling two-run win over Railways. UP's innings started abjectly as they were 9 for 2. Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif put together a 104-run stand to lend stability to the innings. However UP lost a few more wickets to leave them at a compromising 142 for 6 in 35.1 overs. Askhdeep Nath and Eklavya Dwivedi helped UP recover with an 85-run stand as they finished 272 for 9.

Towards the end Railways were staring at defeat, as they lost two wickets in the 49th over, followed by a wicket off the first ball in the final over. Karan Sharma scored 17 runs off the next four balls to push Railways to the brink of victory, before Shailender Gehlot was run out by Suresh Raina with the score at 270. The win takes Uttar Pradesh to the top of the Central Zone table.

An unbeaten career-best 88 from Smit Patel guided Gujarat to a six-wicket win over Baroda. Having chosen to bowl first, the Gujarat bowlers kept Baroda in check by picking up regular wickets, with Rush Kalaria picking up 3 for 42.

Baroda's batsmen, including Ambati Rayadu and Yusuf Pathan, failed to capitalise. The only resistance came from Aditya Waghmode who scored a career-best 66. Chasing 224 for victory, Gujarat had an early stutter, but the middle order, led by Patel and Manprit Juneja (58), ensured a comfortable win for the side. The win takes Gujarat to the top of the West Zone table with nine points.

Mumbai's pace trio of Kshemal Waingankar, Ajit Agarkar and Aavishkar Salvi set up a 126-run win over Saurashtra. Mumbai scored a daunting 283, helped by an unbeaten debut century from Siddhesh Lad and a half-century from Shoaib Shaikh. Lad's 91-ball innings included seven fours and six sixes.

Set a target of 284 to win, Saurashtra struggled from the start, at one point being 5 for 61. Agarkar bowled a miserly 4 for 19 in 9 overs, backed by a maiden five-wicket haul from Waingankar. Chirag Jani's 61 was the only form of resistance as Saurashtra folded for 157 all out inside of 42 overs.

Andhra failed to defend their total of 256 as Kerala won by six wickets. Unbeaten half-centuries from middle-order batsmen Robert Fernandez and Raiphi Gomez helped Kerala achieve the target with more than three overs to spare.

Kerala put Andhra in to bat and their openers responded with a 103-run stand, before S Sreesanth and Rohan Prem struck for Kerala. Wicket-keeper Srikar Bharat top-scored with 74 and was ably supported by Jyothi Sai Krishna (61) as Andhra finished at 256 for 6.

Kerala's chase was shaky before the middle order steadied the innings. Fernandez anchored the innings with an unbeaten 85, with vital contributions from Sachin Baby and Gomez, who scored 68 off 47 balls.

Karnataka continued their unbeaten streak in this competition, comfortably chasing down Tamil Nadu's 250-run target with seven wickets in hand and more than four overs to spare.

Tamil Nadu's decision to bat first almost came undone as they were 4 for 85 halfway through their innings. A 142-run stand for the sixth wicket between Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar lent some respectability to the score, as Tamil Nadu reached 250. Manish Pandey's unbeaten 81, along with KK Nair's 64 not out, helped guide Karnataka to 252 for three in reply to Tamil Nadu's 250 for 8.

Hyderabad sauntered home with an eight-wicket win over Goa in a match that was reduced to 25 overs.

Goa had an explosive start with rapid fifties from top order batsmen Swapnil Asnodkar (70 off 50 balls), Sagun Kamat (63 off 39) and Manvinder Bisla (40 off 26), as they raced to 225 for seven at a run-rate of 9.00.

Hyderabad kept their cool and were guided by Dwaraka Ravi Teja's imperious 111 off 67 balls. Akash Bhandari, who picked up 2 for 36 earlier, scored 78 off 42 balls as Hyderabad reached their target by the end of the 23rd over.