Openers Priyansh Arya and Tejasvi Dahiya scored aggressive fifties, helping Delhi overcome skipper Rishabh Pant’s lacklustre performance to secure a three-wicket victory over Saurashtra in a Group D match
of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Monday.
Chasing 321, Arya (78 off 45 balls) and Tejasvi (53 off 51 balls) were instrumental in Delhi’s win, leading the team home in 48.5 overs with seven wickets down at the Alur 2 grounds.
Saurashtra posted a challenging total of 320 for seven in 50 overs, thanks to opener Vishvarajsinh Jadeja’s 115 off 104 balls and Ruchit Ahir’s unbeaten 95 off 65 balls.
Virat Kohli, who had played a crucial role in Delhi’s victories in the first two matches with a century and a fifty, is set to rejoin the team on January 6 for the match against Railways at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.
Pant was unable to make a significant impact, being dismissed for 22 off 26 balls by Jay Gohil off Chirag Jani. However, his teammates compensated for both Pant’s and Kohli’s absence. Arya formed a 66-run partnership for the second wicket with Ayush Doseja before being dismissed by Chetan Sakarya.
Delhi was 115 for two in 13.2 overs and, despite losing wickets regularly, they managed to keep the required run rate under control.
Tejasvi was involved in two vital partnerships after Delhi fell to 160 for four — 48 runs for the fifth wicket with Pant and 40 runs for the next wicket with Harsh Tyagi.
When Tejasvi was dismissed by Ankur Pawar, Delhi still needed 73 runs in 12 overs with four wickets in hand. Tyagi (49 off 45 balls) and Navdeep Saini (34 not out) successfully chased down the remaining runs, securing four valuable points for Delhi and placing them at the top of Group D with 12 points from three games.
Earlier in the match, Jadeja spearheaded Saurashtra’s innings with two significant partnerships — 79 runs for the second wicket with Gajjar Sammar (41) and 80 runs for the sixth wicket with Ahir.
Delhi’s pacer Saini also excelled with the ball, taking three wickets for 41 runs in his 10 overs.
Brief scores:
Saurashtra: 320/7 in 50 overs (Vishvarajsinh Jadeja 115, Ruchit Ahir 95 not out; Navdeep Saini 3/41) lost to Delhi: 321/7 in 48.5 overs (Priyansh Arya 78, Tejasvi Dahiya 53, Harsh Tyagi 49, Navdeep Saini 34 not out; Chirag Jani 2/51) by 3 wickets.
Andhra: 221 all out in 49.2 overs (SDNV Prasad 66, Saurabh Kumar 47; Biplab Samantray 3/36, Govinda Poddar 3/36) lost to Odisha: 223/4 in 43.4 overs (Govinda Poddar 89, Om T Munda 91; Satyanarayana Raju 2/49) by 6 wickets.
Railways: 365/7 in 50 overs (Pratham Singh 73, Ravi Singh 88, Ashutosh Sharma 50, Zubair Ali 48 not out; Pulkit Narang 2/43) beat Services: 281 all out in 47.2 overs (Sagar Dahiya 95, Ravi Chauhan 73; Raj Choudhary 3/27, Zubair Ali 2/46) by 84 runs.
Haryana: 299 all out in 50 overs (Mayank Shandilya 86, HJ Rana 57, Samant Jakhar 49; Arzan Nagwaswalla 3/69, Harshal Patel 3/69) beat Gujarat: 273 all out in 47.1 overs (Jaymeet Patel 67, Vishal Jayswal 51, Ravi Bishnoi 40; Anshul Kamboj 3/49) by 26 runs.
(With PTI Inputs)
