Talented right-hander Milind Kumar (in pic) successfully anchored a modest run-chase with an unbeaten 58 as Delhi beat Maharashtra by five wickets in a group C encounter to inch closer towards the quarter-finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy on Thursday.
Delhi have 16 points from five matches with four victories to their credit and are currently third in the group behind Vidarbha (+1.426) and Baroda (+1.114), who are also on 16 points but enjoy a better Net Run Rate (NNR) than the hosts (+0.727).
But Delhi have a match to go against Andhra and a win will straight away put them in last eight. In case they lose, they will have to depend on other results.
It was Milind, who hit Dominic Mutthuswamy for a six over long on, to complete the match, reaching the target of 195. He faced 59 balls and also hit five boundaries.
Put into bat, Maharashtra managed only 194 for nine in 50 overs with skipper Kedar Jadhav scoring 48 off 46 balls. He hit five boundaries. Opener Swapnil Gugale was the second highest scorer with a painstaking 44 off 88 balls.
Brief Scores
Maha: 194/9 (Jadhav 48, Manan 3/38, Negi 3/21) lose to Delhi: 197/5 (Dhruv 57, Milind Kumar 58*) by 5 wickets.
Dhoni hits 37 in Jharkhand's win
Alur (Karnataka): India's limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipped in with a useful 30-ball 37 as Jharkhand thrashed Railways by 115 runs. Coming in at 122 for 3, Dhoni stitched a 38-run partnership with top-scorer Saurabh Tiwary (49 off 66 balls) for fourth wicket to help Jharkhand, who batted first, reach 211/5 in 45-over-a-side match.