Kunal Singh Rathore's fluent fifty was well complemented by a clinical bowling effort as Rajasthan notched up a comfortable 52-run win over Delhi in a Group B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Tuesday.
Sent in to bat, Rajasthan were reduced to 7 for 2 in three overs and even though Abhijeet Tomar (33), Mahipal Lomror (35) and skipper Ashok Menaria (31) tried to ressurect the innings, none of them could push the pace as Delhi managed to take wickets regularly.
However, Rathore, coming in to bat at number 7, slammed a 75-ball 70, innings that was laced with seven boundaries and four maximums and took Rajasthan across the 200-mark.
Chasing, Delhi struggled in the face of some quality bowling and lost half their side for 50 runs in the 15th over.
Shivank Vashisht hit a 60-ball 51 with the help of seven fours, but after he was back in the dugout in the 38th over, Delhi folded for 166 in 42.1 overs.
In other matches, Karnataka defeated Jharkhand by six wickets, riding on skipper Mayank Agarwal's 63-ball 53 and some splendid bowling display led by Vasuki Koushik (3/18).
Vidarbha also had an easy outing as they claimed a seven-wicket win over Sikkim in another group B match. Assam also registered a massive 164-run win over Meghalaya with Mukhtar Hussain (47, 3/19) producing a sensational all-round show at Calcutta Cricket and Football Ground.
TN beat Chhattisgarh
Bengaluru: Tamil Nadu defeated Chhattisgarh by 14 runs for their second win in Group C.
Sent into bat by the opposition captain Harpreet Singh Bhatia, TN openers B Sai Sudharsan (121, 109 balls, 10 fours, 4 sixes) and N Jagadeesan (107, 113 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes) put on 233 in 34.5 overs to help them post 340 for six in 50 overs.
Up against a mammoth target, Chhattisgarh skipper Harpreet Singh (121, 129 balls, 11 fours, 2 sixes) and Amandeep Khare (115, 99 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) mounted a superb fightback, adding 214 runs in 199 balls to keep the team in the hunt. But the rest of the batters could not rise to the challenge and the team eventually fell short by 14 runs.
In another match, Andhra trounced Arunachal Pradesh by 261 runs with Abhishek Reddy (136) and skipper K S Bharat (100) playing key roles and Kerala scored over Goa thanks to Rohan Kunnummal's superb 134.
Ramandeep bags hat-trick
Mumbai: Medium pacer Ramandeep Singh rattled Baroda with a hat-trick and powered Punjab to a nine-wicket win in their Group D match.
Opting to bat, Baroda were skittled out for 81 in 20.4 overs with Ramandeep wrecking havoc during a dream spell of 4-0-17-5, while left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma picked up 3/17. In reply, Punjab cruised to the target in 12 overs to seal their second win in as many matches. Opener Prabhismaran Singh led their chase with an unbeaten 62 from 48 balls.
Hyd pip Saurashtra
New Delhi: Skipper Tanmay Agarwal led from the front with a 119-ball 124 as Hyderabad put up a strong batting display to beat Saurashtra by five wickets in Group A match.
Chasing a challenging 313, Hyderabad responded in style as Agarwal and Rohit Rayudu put up a strong 214-run opening stand and batted till the 35th over.
But the duo departed in quick succession in the 35th over and the match hung in balance with Hyderabad needing 34 in 35 balls when Ravi Teja got out for a 23-ball 34.
But Tilak Varma played an useful knock of 45 from 36 balls (2x4, 2x6) before Tanay Thyagarajan and Mickil Jaiswal sealed the win with seven balls to spare.
Put in to bat, Saurashtra posted a challenging 312 for nine with wicketkeeper-batter Harvik Desai anchoring their innings with a 120-ball 102.
Pondicherry win
Ranchi: An unbeaten ton by Paras K Dogra (129 not out off 121 balls) and half-centuries from K B Arun Karthick and Ankit Sharma helped Pondicherry beat Services by five wickets in a Group 'E' match.
In another match, Azim Kazi's knock of 106 (97 balls, 7 fours, 4 sixes) enabled Maharashtra to notch a three-wicket win over Bengal.
Services had beaten Mumbai on Sunday.