Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26
Group B
Rajkot, Dec 24: Uttar Pradesh batters, including T20 World Cup-bound Rinku Singh, fired in unison before the spinners did the damage as they outclassed Hyderabad by 84 runs in their opening Vijay Hazare Trophy Group B match here on Wednesday.
Abhishek Goswami (81), Aryan Juyal (80), Dhruv Jurel (80) and Rinku (67) struck contrasting half-centuries to power Uttar Pradesh to a formidable 324 for five after being asked to bat.
The bowlers then ensured there was no late twist, with List-A debutants Zeeshan Ansari (4/31) and Prashant Veer (3/47), who recently secured a whopping Rs 14.2 crore IPL deal with Chennai Super Kings alongside Vipraj Nigam spinning a web around the Hyderabad batters, despite the best efforts of Tanmay Agarwal (53) and Buddhi Rahul (47).
The trio shared eight wickets between them as Hyderabad were bowled out well short of the target, while pacer Kartik Tyagi chipped in with two wickets.
Bengal edge Vidarbha
In another Group B game, fifties by Abhishek Porel (56), skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (71) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (68) and Shahbaz Ahmed (71) cancelled out centuries by Aman Mokhande (110) and Dhruv Shorey (136) as Bengal eked out a three-wicket win over Vidarbha.
Out-of-favour India pacer Mohammed Shami (2/65) and off spinner Aamir Gani shared four wickets between them as Vidarbha posted a challenging 382/5.
But a collective batting performance ensured Bengal logged in their first points.
Solanki’s late heroics sinks Assam
Vishnu Solanki’s late heroics sealed a five wicket win for Boroda against Assam in their opening Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture.
Chasing 283, Solanki scored an unbeaten 62-ball 88 and shared a 100-run sixth stand with Bhanu Pania (43 not out) after Priyanshu Moliya scored 73 to overhaul the target.
Solank’s 62-ball innings was laced with 10 fours and two sixes.
Pradyun Saikia (67), captain Sumit Ghadigaonkar (55) and Sibsankar Roy (55) scored half centuries for Assam.
Jammu and Kashmir rout Chandigarh
In another Group B match, medium pacer Lone Nasir starred with the ball before Shubham Khajuria’s century powered Jammu and Kashmir to a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Chandigarh.
Opting to bowl, Nasir returned with figures of 4/44, removing three of Chandigarh’s top five batters as they were bundled out for 208.
Openers Qamran Iqbal (73) and Khajuria (129 off 105 balls) then made light work of the chase, smashing a combined 27 boundaries to guide Jammu and Kashmir home with 78 balls to spare. (PTI)
