Delhi beat Chhattisgarh by 44 runs to top group B; Mumbai capture first spot with 28 points
Delhi comfortably beat Chhattisgarh by 44 runs in their group B league encounter to enter the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Monday.
Delhi topped group B with 26 points followed by Andhra who had an inferior net run-rate despite finishing with same number of points.
Delhi, Andhra and Hyderabad (22 points) have qualified from group B.
It was debutant wicketkeeper Lakshay Thareja, who scored 53 in the middle-order to take Delhi to 245 for 9 in 50 overs.
In reply, Chhattisgarh was all out for 201 in 45.1 overs with left-arm seamer Kulwant Khejorliya being the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 27.
Put into bat, Delhi were reduced to 77 for 4 with in-form batsmen Gautam Gambhir (10), Dhruv Shorey (8) and Nitish Rana (8) being dismissed cheaply.
Unmukt Chand (32 off 70 balls) couldn't get going and Delhi were in deep trouble at 112 for 6 in the 32nd over. It was Thareja and Lalit Yadav (24), who added 34 runs for the seventh wicket.
Thareja, who hit four boundaries in 72 balls was out leaving Delhi tottering at 176 for 8 after 44.5 overs.
However Pawan Negi (31 off 30 balls) and Simarjeet Singh (25 off 18 balls) added 50 runs in 4.2 overs. Khejroliya hit three towering sixes to take Delhi to a fighting total.
While chasing, Chhattisgarh lost more than of their team for barely 100 runs as their chase was as good as over.
At 139 for 8, Shakeeb Ahmed (38) and Shivendra Singh (25) added 51 runs to delay the inevitable but it always was Delhi's game.
Punjab rout Karnataka
Bengaluru: Powered by a splendid century by opener Anmolpreet Singh following a fifer by Siddharth Kaul, Punjab trounced Karnataka by six wickets.
After bundling out Karnataka for a stiff 296, courtesy a five-wicket haul by pacer Siddharth Kaul, it was Anmolpreet who stole the show with a pulverising knock of 138 in the elite group A tie at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Kaul wreaked havoc to return with fine figures of 5-41 and his scalps included Karun Nair, Kaunain Abbas, Shreyas Gopal, Aniruddha and T Pradeep.
The speedster was complimented well by Barinder Singh Sran (3-48), while veteran Yuvraj Singh and young leggie Mayank Markande picked up a wicket each.
For Karnataka, wicket-keepe-batsman B R Sharath top scored with 70, while skipper Manish Pandey (67), R Samarth (54) and Shreyas Gopal (37) also made noteworthy contributions.
But for Punjab, the chase was a walk in the park, with 20-year-old Anmolpreet scoring a blazing 138 off just 106 balls.
He also put on a huge 198-run stand for the opening wicket with Shubman Gill (77).
Anmolpreet, a right-handed batsman, smashed 12 fours and five other hits over the fence, while Gill struck seven fours and a six.
The two hammered a listless Karnataka attack led by Abhimanyu Mithun.
After the two openers departed, Yuvraj Singh (38) and skipper Mandeep Singh (30) also played their part to perfection, but fell when the team was crusing towards the victory.
However, Punjab romped home with seven balls to spare.
At the other two Elite Group A games held in neighbouring Alur, in a low-scoring thriller Vidarbha defeated Goa by 1 run, while Maharashtra defeated Baroda by five wickets.
The quarter-finals for the tournament will start on October 14, with the semi-finals on October 17 and 18 and the final on Saturday October 20, all scheduled in Bengaluru.
As per the standings, Mumbai with 28 points has topped Elite A and B followed by Delhi (26 points), Maharashtra (26 points), Andhra (26 points) and Hyderabad (22 points).
Thus these teams are set to advance to the quarters but their opponents will be decided only when league matches of Group C end on October 11.
Bihar storm into q/f
Vadodara: Capping a successful return from an 18-year exile, Bihar stormed into the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals with a nine-wicket thrashing of Mizoram.
Bihar concluded the league stage with an unassailable 30 points and grabbed the solitary qualifying berth from the spot from the plate group.
Bihar captain Keshav Kumar (4/21) triggered the collapse before left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman stole the limelight with scintillating figures of 4-2-2-3, as Mizoram folded for 83 in 27.2 overs after electing to bat at the Motibaug Stadium.
Bihar cruised home in 15.4 overs with opener Vikash Ranjan remaining unbeaten on 59 on the way to registering their seventh win from eight matches with one being a washout.
Bihar who last played Ranji Trophy plate group in the 2003-04 season returned to the domestic fold after a Supreme Court order in January this year.
At Nadiad, Uttarakhand registered a commanding 108-run win over Arunachal Pradesh but it was insufficient as they finished two points behind Bihar, having lost to them in the group league stage.