Vijay Hazare Trophy: Hanuma Vihari, KS Bharat star in Andhra's win; Tamil Nadu end losing streak

Chennai: Skipper G Hanuma Vihari (169) and KS Bharat (105) starred in Andhra’s 29-run win over Mumbai on Wednesday, its sixth straight win in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Group ‘C’ League. [caption id=“attachment_4344145” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty[/caption] The victory enabled Andhra finish on top of the standings with 24 points and qualify for the national knockout phase, along with Mumbai, which finished second with 16 points. The massive 254-run partnership in 204 balls between Bharat and Vihari helped Andhra post a mammoth 344 for 5 in 50 overs before restricting the opponent to 315 for 9 despite Siddhesh Lad’s strokeful ton. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu ended its losing streak by posting a comfortable seven-wicket win over Team Rajasthan with left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore stealing the show with a five-wicket haul, his first in List ‘A’ cricket. In the other match of the day, wicketkeeper Keenan Vaz snared seven victims (six catches and a stumping) to equal the record of Mahesh Rawat and Parthiv Patel in List A matches as Goa edged Gujarat by one wicket in a thriller. Final standings: Group C’ (Team/Points/NRR): 1. Andhra (24, +0.626); 2. Mumbai (16, +0.324); 3. Madhya Pradesh (12, +0.112); 4. Goa (12, -0.411); 5. Tamil Nadu (8, +0.468); 6. Team Rajasthan (8, -0.791); 7. Gujarat (4, -0.321). Brief scores: Gujarat 227 all out in 49.4 overs (Priyank Panchal 26, Bhargav Merai 93 (118b, 9x4, 1x6), Santosh Shinde 27, Darshan Misal 3 for 36) lost to Goa 228 for 9 in 48.3 overs (Swapnil Asnodkar 25, Sagun Kamat 110 not out (148b, 14x4, 1x6), Snehal Kauthankar 28, Piyush Chawla 3 for 27, Kathan Patel 3 for 42). Points: Goa: 4 (12); Gujarat: 0 (4). Andhra 344 for 5 in 50 overs (K S Bharat 105 (126b, 10x4), G Hanuma Vihari 169 (118b, 16x4, 7x6), Ricky Bhui 53 (31b, 4x4, 2x6), Roystan Dias 3 for 77) beat Mumbai 315 for 9 in 50 overs (Prithvi Shaw 31, Siddhesh Lad 118 (98b, 6x4s, 4x6s), Surya Kumar Yadav 27, Shivam Dube 36, I Karthik Raman 3 for 55). Points: Andhra: 4 (24); Mumbai: 0 (16). Team Rajasthan 141 all out in 38.2 overs (Arjit Gupta 27, Chetan Bist 36, R Sai Kishore 5 for 26, R Ashwin 2 for 37) lost to Tamil Nadu 143 for 3 in 23.3 overs (V Ganga Sridhar Raju 27, N Jagadeesan 39, B Aparajith 55 not out (59b, 9x4). Points: Tamil Nadu: 4 (8); Team Rajasthan: 0 (8).