Aaron, Shukla star in easy Jharkhand win
A round-up of all the Group B matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on December 14, 2015
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Dec-2015
File photo: Varun Aaron dismissed the Haryana openers and finished with figures of 2-21 off six overs • Associated Press
Ishank Jaggi's unbeaten 62 helped Jharkhand round off a relatively straightforward chase against Haryana by nine wickets after Rahul Shukla, Varun Aaron and Shahbaz Nadeem chipped in with vital contributions with the ball.
Haryana's 133 was achieved largely on the back of Rahul Dagar's 38, even as five other batsmen who got into double figures couldn't convert their starts. Aaron, the captain, dismissed the openers, with Shukla and Nadeem scything through the middle and lower order as Haryana's innings ended in 33 overs. Harshal Patel picked up the wicket of Anand Singh, but Jaggi and Kumar Deobrat (38 not out) ensured MS Dhoni wasn't required to bat as Jharkhand registered their third win in four matches.
Kerala bounced back from their loss to Jharkhand on Sunday by consigning Jammu & Kashmir to their third successive loss. The stars for Kerala were Fabid Ahmed, the offspinner, who picked up three wickets to bundle out J&K for 130 before Nikhilesh Surendran, the opener, hit 12 fours and a six in his unbeaten 85 to see Kerala home in 29.5 overs. Kerala's second win in four matches kept their knockout hopes alive.
Manish Pandey's unbeaten 94 helped Karnataka beat Gujarat by 15 runs (VJD method) at Alur. Chasing 234, Gujarat, courtesy Priyank Panchal's 52 and Chirag Gandhi's 43, were 160 for 5 in 40 overs when bad light stopped play. Set a revised target of 205 in 44 overs, Gujarat now needed 45 in 24 balls. They only managed 29, losing three more wickets to finish on 189 for 8.
Sent in to bat, Karnataka lost KL Rahul and Sadiq Kirmani cheaply, before Mayank Agarwal (58 off 77) and Pandey added 72 for the third wicket. None of the lower middle-order contributed substantially, barring a 24 from Stuart Binny, and it was left to Pandey to manoeuvre Karnataka to a decent total. He managed this, remaining unbeaten on 94 off 123 balls (6x4, 1x6), to steer Karnataka to 233 for 8.