Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018: Odisha, Andhra seal narrow victories; Saurashtra cruise to win over Madhya Pradesh

New Delhi: A star-studded Delhi batting line-up failed to chase 250 against Odisha and suffered their first loss in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_3907929” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Cheteshwar Pujara. AP[/caption] Biplab Samantaray (63 off 81) and Subhransu Senapati (59 not out off 50) took Odisha to 249 for four in 48-over a side Group B contest at Palam. Chasing the target, Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi were 240 all out in 48 overs. Suboth Bhati (42 not out off 36) and Navdeep Saini took Delhi on the brink of an improbable victory with a 66-run stand for the 10th wicket but as it turned out, they were left to do too much in the end. Gambhir (44 off 56) at the top and Rishabh Pant (39 off 33) in the middle order were unable to capitalise on starts, leading to the team’s downfall. Papu Roy and Deepak Behera were the pick of the bowlers for Odisha, taking a couple of wickets each. In another match played in Palam, Saurashtra beat Madhya Pradesh by seven wickets in a low-scoring affair. Jaydev Unadkat (4/23) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/33) helped Saurashtra skittle out Madhya Pradesh for 136 in 45.5 overs. Saurashtra took their time and completed the chase in 40.3 overs with Cheteshwar Pujara and Arpit Vasavada remaining unbeaten on 36 and 38 respectively. At Kotla, Andhra beat Chattisgarh by two wickets, completing the 250-run chase on the final ball of the innings. Brief scores (Group B): Odisha 249/4 in 48 overs (Samantaray 63, Senapati 59). Delhi 240 all out in 48 overs (Gambhir 44, Bhati 42 not out; Roy 2/37, Behera 2/25). MP 136 all out in 45.5 overs (Jain 32; Unadkat 4/23, Jadeja 3/33). Saurashtra 137/4 in 40.3 overs (Pujara 36 not out, Vasavada 38 not out). PTI Chattisgarh 248/8 in 50 overs (Ashutosh 110, Manoj Singh 62). Andhra 249/8 in 50 overs (Teja 53, Karn Sharma 55, Hebbar 53).