Skipper Gautam Gambhir and middle-order batsman Milind Kumar hit patient half-centuries as Delhi beat Odisha by five wickets in a group C encounter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Sunday.
Batting first, Odisha scored 225 for nine in 50 overs with Natraj Behera (50) and Biplab Samantray (47) being the only notable run-getters.
In reply, Delhi scored the required runs in 46.3 overs. Gambhir started the chase with 67 off 82 balls while Milind completed with an unbeaten 89-ball-62. left-hander Vaibhav Rawal also chipped in with a brisk 40 off 48 balls.
The highlight of Delhi's chase was a 72-run stand between Milind and Rawal.
While Gambhir's innings had seven boundaries but the veteran India discard was involved in an useful 59-run stand for the second wicket with Dhruv Shorey (25).
Nitish Rana (0) was out cheaply as Delhi were 88 for three at one stage. But Milind's presence was a calming influence as he added 41 runs with Gambhir for the fourth wicket after which the hme team captain was run-out.
However Rawal-Milind combination carried the team to the doorstep of victory before left-hander Rawal was caught by Rajesh Dhuper off Alok Sahoo's bowling.
Earlier, left-arm spinners Manan Sharma (3/47 in 10 overs) and Pawan Negi (2/45 in 9 overs) shared five wickets among them in 19 overs giving away only 92 runs as Odisha could not get a sizeable total on board.
Bengal lose to UP by 4 wickets
Rajkot: Mohammed Shami got two wickets on his return to competitive cricket after nearly 9 months but Uttar Pradesh comfortably beat Bengal by four wickets in a group D league match.
Batting first, Bengal managed a modest 221 in 48.3 overs with only Sudip Chatterjee playing well for his 97. In reply, UP always had the game under control as they reached the target in 46.4 overs. Openers Umang Sharma (73) and Prashant Gupta (47) added 88 runs while No 3 Ekalavya Dwivedi contributed 45 with three towering sixes.
Sharing the new ball with Ashok Dinda, Shami's figures were 10-0-52-2 as he bowled both Umang and Ekalavya. This is Bengal's second successive loss after being beaten by Himachal Pradesh in the earlier game. They have beaten Goa in the first game.
Put into bat, it was only Sudip (114 balls,9x4), who looked in good touch as in-form players like Sayan sekhar Mondal (15), Shreevtas Goswami (3), Manoj Tiwary (1) and Wriddhiman Saha (16) got out cheaply.
The only notable stand for Bengal was 69 runs for the fifth wicket stand between Sudip and laxmi Ratan Shukla (32). For UP, Mohammed Javed picked up 4/40 while Bhuvneshwar Kumar had 2/22.
Haryana thrash J&K by 10 wkts
Alur (Karnataka): Medium-pacer Harshal Patel bagged a five-wicket haul as Haryana skittled out Jammu and Kashmir for a paltry 75 and cantered to a 10-wicket win in their Group B match.
Electing to bat at the Alur Cricket Stadium, Jammu and Kashmir batsmen looked all at sea against Harshal's (5/21) controlled swing bowling and Amit Mishra's (3/4) spin as the bowling duo shared eight wickets between them to wrap up the innings in 22 overs.
Off-spinner Jayant Yadav also bagged two wickets as batsman Bandeep Singh top-scored with 24 runs while No.9 Zahoor Sofi remained unbeaten on 20.
The innings saw five ducks including skipper Mithun Manhas and wicketkeeper-batsman Ian Dev Singh, who fell to Harshal's pace and swing.
Coming out to bat, openers Nitin Saini (20 not out) and Harshal (54 not out) made short work of the chase to pocket the match in 11 overs.
Vidarbha wins easily vs baroda
New Delhi: Riding on a four-wicket haul by medium pacer Ravikumar Thakur (4/26) and a fine half-century by Faiz Fazal, Vidarbha posted a seven-wicket win over Baroda in their Group C match.
After bundling out Baroda for 173 in 46 overs, Vidarbha achieved the target in just 42 overs by losing only three wickets in the process.
Put in to bat, Baroda lost three wickets for just 60 runs on the board before skipper Ambati Rayudu (40) and Yusuf Pathan (32) steadied the boat by putting on a 59-run stand for the fourth wicket.
But after Rayudu's dismissal, Baroda kept losing wickets at regular interval to be all out for below 200. Besides Thakur, Ravi Jangid (2/15) and Rajneesh Gurbani (2/47) chipped in with two wickets each for Vidarbha. Chasing a modest target, Vidarbha lost opener Jitesh Sharma (4) cheaply but Fazal played a responsible innings of 117-ball 89, which included 12 hits to the fence, to help his team register an easy win with 48 balls to spare.
Axar stars in Guajrat's win
Alur (Karnataka): Axar Patel produced an all-round show to help Gujarat notch up a four-wicket win over Railways.
Axar scalped a crucial wicket during Railways' innings of 259 for 5 and then top-scored with a 75 off 59 balls to help Gujarat chase down the target with two balls to spare and notch up their second consecutive win in the tournament.
Put into bat, Railways scored 259 for 5 in their allotted 50 overs, riding on Arindam Ghosh's unbeaten 96. The other notable contributor was Mahesh Rawat, who made 60, with Karn Sharma (26) and Ashish Yadav (22 not out) lending the finishing touches to Railways innings.