Assam open with win after Karthik, Verma fifties
A round-up of the Group A matches of the Vijay Hazare trophy held on February 26, 2017
ESPNcricinfo staff
26-Feb-2017
File photo - Amit Verma's fifth List A half-century steered Assam's chase of 244 • Fotocorp
At the Feroz Shah Kotla, Amit Verma and Arun Karthik starred with half-centuries in Assam's successful chase of 244 against Punjab. Pallavkumar Das dominated the early part of Assam's chase with 48 off 49 balls, before they went from 75 for 1 to 90 for 3. Karthik, the captain, and Verma shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 92 off 107 balls. Sandeep Sharma ended the association with the wicket of Karthik for 63. He later had Verma caught for 65 with Assam one run away from the target, which they completed off the next ball. Sandeep Sharma took 3 for 52 for Punjab.
When Punjab batted, Shubman Gill scored nearly half their runs - 121 out of 243 - to raise his maiden century in his second List A game. Gill's fourth-wicket partnership of 141 with Gurkeerat Singh Mann (58) lifted them from 19 for 3 and formed the bulwark of Punjab's total. Assam's new-ball pair of Pritam Das and Arup Das took three wickets each.
At the Palam Grounds, debutant Hitesh Kadam scythed through Haryana's lower middle order to bowl Railways to a 71-run win. Haryana were reeling at 86 for 5 in pursuit of 253, before a half-century stand between Rahul Dagar (57) and Rahul Tewatia (33) had revived them when Kadam made his first strike. Soon, Haryana went from 138 for 5 to 142 for 8. Kadam took out Dagar for 57, before bowling Mohit Sharma to close out the game.
Earlier, when Railways elected to bat, they were driven by a third-wicket stand of 102 between Pratham Singh (51) and Arindam Ghosh, who top-scored with 76. Railways were also helped by contributions from Mahesh Rawat (31), and Amit Mishra, whose seven-ball unbeaten 17, lifted them to 252 for 7.
At the Karnail Singh Stadium, Vidarbha mounted a late fightback after electing to bat against Baroda, before successfully defending their total by 22 runs in a shortened game. Apoorv Wankhade (62*) and Akshay Karnewar (54*) struck half-centuries and stitched together an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 98 that took Vidarbha from 153 for 5 in the 36th over to finish on 251 in 45 overs. Wankhade's knock came off 46 balls and included two fours and three sixes, while Karnewar struck at 180, with one four and five sixes. Before the duo got together, Faiz Fazal, the Vidarbha captain and their opening batsman, held the innings together with 58, although he used up 104 balls.
Baroda's chase was driven by a second-wicket stand of 66 between Aditya Waghmode (79) and Krunal Pandya (43). But the rest of the order failed to make an impression, and though Pinal Shah biffed 36 off 32 balls at No. 8, they fell well short of the target. Yash Thakur, playing his second List A game, took 3 for 64.