Press Trust of India
Bangalore/Alur, Dec 24: Both the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals played Thursday turned out to be thrilling encounters with Tamil Nadu beating Uttar Pradesh by one wicket and Gujarat pipping Vidarbha by two wickets. The two teams will meet in the semifinals Saturday
Rajagopal Sathish’s unbeaten 34 (38b, 6×4) runs helped Tamil Nadu scrape past UP in a low-scoring encounter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Sathish came into bat when the score was 118 for six with TN needing another 51 runs to win on a pitch of variable bounce and pace. Even though he did not get the support he required Sathish played a brilliant cameo to ensure victory for his side. He had earlier bowled a miserly spell of 10-2-14-1 and was rightly adjudged the man of the match. Baba Indrajith (48, 78b, 6×4) was the only other notable contributor for TN.
Earlier Tamil Nadu began their innings in a poor fashion losing Dinesh Karthik (0), Abhinav Mukund (2), Baba Aparajith (9) and L Balaji (0) for just 17 on the board. The Kumars – Praveen (1/30) and Bhubneswar (3/25) creating the early ripples.
Nevertheless, Vijay Shankar (22) and inform India opener Murali Vijay (33) stabilised the innings by putting on 64 runs for the fifth wicket before Sathish delivered the coup de grace
Earlier opting to bat, UP posted 168 all out in 48.2 overs riding on a fine knock from Rinku Singh (60, 97b, 5×4) while Piyush Chawla played a handy innings of 29. L Balaji (3/32) was the best bowler for TN
In the Alur match, Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel (57, 58b, 10×4) played a fine knock, while Axar Patel (36n o, 45, 3×4) chipped in with a crucial knock to script out a victory for their side against Vidarbha. Chasing 196 for a win at the KSCA Cricket (3) Ground, the winners reached the target with 11 balls to spare. Axar and Harshal Patel (15 n o) put on 36 runs for the ninth wicket to take their team to the semis.
Earlier electing to bat, Vidarbha started off well with fifties from opener Faiz Fazal (52, 66b, 5×4, 1×6) and Jitesh Sharma (51, 66b, 5×4). The two openers put on 96 runs for the first wicket. Then Ganesh Satish (47, 66b, 2×4, 1×6) also batted well to take Vidarbha to a position of strength before inept batting led to their downfall.
From 132 for two, Vidarbha lost their last eight wickets for 63 runs to fold below 200 when at one point a score of 250-plus on the cards. They paid dearly for their mistakes by losing the match.
(At Bangalore): UP 168 in 48.2 overs (Rinku Singh 60, L Balaji 3/32, Ravi Ashwin 2/27) lost to Tamil Nadu 169 for 9 in 41.2 overs (Baba Indrajith 48, Rajagopal Sathish 34 n o, Bhuvneswar Kumar 3/25, Piyush Chawla 3/45) by one wicket.
(At Alur): Vidarbha 195 in 48 overs (Faiz Fazal 52, Jitesh Sharma 51, Jasprit Bumrah 4/38) lost to Gujarat 198/8 in 48.1 overs (Parthiv Patel 57, Axar Patel 36 not out; Rujul Thakur 3/46, Akshay Wakhare 3/30) by two wickets.
