Delhi score innings victory over Haryana

The latest round of the Vijay Merchant Trophy North Zone League, that concluded on Friday, saw Haryana play host to Delhi at the Maharaja Stadium, Rohtak. Delhi won the toss and put Haryana in to bat. Haryana made 200 in their first knock, thanks mainly to H Bansal's 79 (eleven boundaries). Delhi made an imposing 337 in their first innings with K Rawat being distictly unlucky to be stranded with an unbeaten 96 which included 13 boundaries and one over the fence. Rawat added a valuable partnership of 107 for the seventh wicket with Abishek Nag who made 43. Haryana were forced to surrender by an innings and four runs as Abhishek Sharma demolished them with bowling figures of 27.3-14-29-5. Delhi took eight points from the encounter.

In the Central Zone League, that also ended on Friday, Madhya Pradesh took on Vidarbha at the Maharani Usha Raje Cricket Ground, Indore. Madhya Pradesh won the toss and elected to bat. Middle order batsman Shadab Khan made 140 (fifteen boundaries) and Jyotindra Singh scored 90 (12 boundaries). The two added 244 for the fifth wicket as MP were all out for 378. For Vidarbha, opening bowler Mohammad Hashim picked up 4/85. Vidarbha made 382/7 by the close of play and collected five points to Madhya Pradesh's three by the virtue of the first innings lead. For Vidarbha, Gaurav Tikkas made an unbeaten 166 (fifteen boundaries). Sohil Bhengade scored 59 and added 108 for the fifth wicket with Tikkas. The seventh wicket partnership between Tikkas and Virat Mishra (46) was worth 130 valuable runs and this clinched the issue for Vidarbha.

In the other match in the Central Zone, Uttar Pradesh took on Rajasthan at the Kamla Club, Kanpur. Rajasthan won the toss and asked UP to bat first. Uttar Pradesh closed their first innings at 321/8, which included valuable contributions from T Abbas (71) and R Elahi (65). Vivek Yadav picked 3/82 for Rajasthan. The UP bowlers followed their brilliant batting display with a good performance with the ball. Shivakant Shukla (4/53) was the best of them as Rajasthan were bowled out for 203. Vinod Chanwaria made a useful 70 which included ten boundaries. In the second innings UP were 48/1 at the close of play. UP added five more points to their season's tally and Rajasthan three.