Vijay Hazare Trophy: Dominant Saurashtra slay Vidarbha to reach semi-final; Services trounce Kerala

Saurashtra produced another dominating display to steamroll Vidarbha by seven wickets and storm into the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday. First, Saurashtra bowlers-led by skipper Jaydev Unadkat (2/25) dished out a clinical show and bundled out the opposition for a paltry 150 in 40.3 overs, despite Apoorv Wankhede’s hard-fought 72. [caption id=“attachment_8464131” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] They then rode on Prerak Mankad’s gusty unbeaten 77 off 72 balls to chase the target with 20.1 overs to spare despite a top-order failure. Put into bat at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Vidarbha lost their first three batters inside the first eight overs as Unadkat and young speedster Chetan Sakariya (1/12) wreaked havoc. Vidarbha lost in-form opener Atharva Taide (1), who became Unadkat’s first scalp. Ganesh Satish (1) and Yash Rathod (1) also faltered cheaply. Then skipper Faiz Fazal (23) and wicket-keeper batter Akshay Wadkar (18) tried to rally the innings with their 45-run stand for the fourth wicket. But it was medium-pacer Prerak Mankad (1/22), who broke the stand after cleaning up Wadkar, to leave them reeling at 54/4. Vidarbha lost half their side for 66.  Only Apoorva Wankhede, who hammered five boundaries and as many maximums, showed mettle and hit a quick-fire 72 off 69 balls, but was devoid of partners in the crunch game as Saurashtra bowlers bowled in the right areas. Aditya Sarwate (14), Lalit Yadav (1), Yash Thakur (0) and last man Aditya Thakare (0) made a beeline to the pavilion. Mankad, medium-pacer Chirag Jani (2/34), seasoned left-arm orthodox spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (2/34) and leg-spinner Yuvraj Chudasama (2/15) played their parts to perfection. Chasing 151, Saurashtra lost openers Vishwaraj Jadeja (0) and Harvik Desai (9) early as pacer Aditya Thakare (2/13) struck twice inside the first five overs. . Then, Sheldon Jackson and Mankad tried to steady the ship but were able to add only 22 runs for the third wicket. But Mankad and Arpit Vasavada (41 not out) had other plans. The duo not only pulled the team out of trouble by forging unbroken 116 runs for the fourth wicket but also sealed the game for Saurashtra. While Mankad hammered 10 elegant boundaries and two maximums, Vasavada hit six fours. Saurashtra face Tamil Nadu in the semifinal on Friday. Brief Scores: Vidarbha 150 all out (Apoorv Wankhede 72, Faiz Fazal 23; Yuvraj Chudasma 2/15, Jaydev Unadkat 2/25) lost to Saurashtra 151/3 (Prerak Mankad 77 not out, Arpit Vasavada 41 not out; Aditya Thakare 2/13) by seven wickets. Services thrash Kerala by seven wickets to storm into semi-finals Services put up an all-round show to sail into the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals with a facile seven-wicket win over Kerala at the KL Saini Stadium on Wednesday. Chasing a paltry 176, Services cantered home in 30.5 overs with opener Ravi Chauhan top-scoring with a 90-ball 95 (13x4, 3x6) and skipper Rajat Paliwal making a 86-ball 65 (8x4). Paliwal won the toss and sent Kerala in as their bowling department led by seasoned medium pacer Diwesh Pathania (8-2-19-3) rattled the Kerala top-order before bowling them out for a paltry 175 in 40.4 overs. Later, Pulkit Narang (2/51), Abhishek Tiwari (2/33 from 7.4 overs) and Rahul Singh (1/35 from 9 overs) made their presence felt to polish off the tail. Services were also brilliant on the field and ran out Rohan Kunnummal – the Kerala top-scorer – for 85 to restrict them to a below-par total. The 32-year-old Pathania struck twice in the seventh over when he dismissed Mohammed Azharuddeen (7) and Jalaj Saxena (0) in successive balls to give them a perfect start. It was Kerala’s rookie opener Kunnummal (85 from 106 balls; 7x4, 2x6) who kept them on the track with a resolute half-century, reaching his second List A fifty in 77 balls. Kerala No 4 Vinoop Manoharan gave a fine support with a brisk 41 off 54 balls laced with four boundaries and one six as the duo put together a fine 80-run partnership for the third wicket to repair the early damage. Just when they were looking to build on their starts, offspinner Pulkit Narang caught and bowled Vinoop Manoharan to break the partnership. Narang also dismissed Sachin Baby (12), while Rahul Singh grabbed the prized scalp of Sanju Samson (2 off 8 balls) cheaply to send half of their wickets back to the pavillion inside 31 overs. A misjudgment cost Kunnummal dear as he failed to notch his maiden List A century, while Tiwari polished off the tail with his wickets off successive deliveries. Services had a jittery start when Lakhan Singh and Mumtaz Qadir got out in three deliveries in the second over to be on 12/2. But it was a Chauhan show afterwards as he took the Kerala attack to the cleaners, smashing 13 fours and three sixes en route his fifth List A halfcentury in 47 balls. Skipper Paliwal, on the other hand, took it easy and rotated the strikes to give Chauhan the maximum strikes. Services will face Himachal Pradesh in the semi-finals in Jaipur on Friday. Brief Scores: Kerala 175; 40.4 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 85, Vinoop Manoharan 41; Diwesh Pathania 3/19, Abhishek Tiwari 2/33, Pulkit Narang 2/51) lost to Services 176/3; 30.5 overs (Ravi Chauhan 95, Rajat Paliwal 65 not out; Unnikrishnan Manukrishnan 2/23) by seven wickets.