Vijay Hazare Trophy: Shikhar Dhawan’s fifty in vain as UP thrash Delhi

Uttar Pradesh recovered from a wobbly start to overhaul the target, scoring 207 for five in 29 overs, riding on Priyam Garg’s quickfire 52-ball 79 and a 62-ball 57 by Upendra Yadav.

Shikhar Dhawan’s half-century went in vain as Uttar Pradesh produced a superlative all-round performance to register a comfortable five-wicket win over Delhi in a Group B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Tuesday.

File image of India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan.(Keshav Singh / Hindustan Times)

Dhawan, who opens India’s innings in limited-over cricket, scored a 74-ball 54 at the top of the order before No. 6 batsman Himmat Singh came up with a 77-ball 64 to lift Delhi to 204 for eight in their stipulated 50 overs.

In their run chase, Uttar Pradesh recovered from a wobbly start to overhaul the target, scoring 207 for five in 29 overs, riding on Priyam Garg’s quickfire 52-ball 79 and a 62-ball 57 by Upendra Yadav.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh bowlers, led by Mohsin Khan, produced a disciplined performance as they achieved breakthroughs regularly and didn’t allow Delhi to post a big score.

Mohsin (3/49) scalped three wickets, Ankit Rajpoot (2/45) took two, while Mohit Jangra (1/22), Saurabh Kumar (1/33) and Rinku Singh (1/21) also chipped in with one wicket each.

In another match, Vidarbha cantered to a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Haryana, courtesy a splendid performance by the bowlers, spearheaded by Darshan Nalkande (4/25).

Skipper Amit Mishra’s decision to bat first backfired as Haryana were bundled out for 83 in 30.5 overs by Vidarbha. Only three Haryana batsmen could reach double figures as they failed to stitch any substantive partnership.

The 21-year-old Nalkande (4/25) emerged as the top wicket-taker for Vidarbha, while he was ably supported by fellow seamer Yash Thakur (2/16), off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (2/15) and left-arm spinner Akshay Karnewar (2/10).

Opener Faiz Fazal (38) and first-down skipper Wasim Jaffer (32) then shared 66 runs after losing Jitesh Sharma (11) early as Vidarbha romped home comfortably, scoring 85 for one in 20.4 overs.

Brief Scores:

Delhi 204/8 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 54, Himmat Singh 64; Mohsin Khan 3/39 lost by five wickets to Uttar Pradesh 207 for 5 in 29 overs (PK Garg 79, UD Yadav 57; NA Saini 2/48).

Haryana 83 allout in 30.5 overs (A Mishra 26; DG Nalkande 4/25) lost by nine wickets to Vidarbha 85 for one in 20.4 overs (FY Fazal 38, W Jaffer 32; J Yadav 1/29).