Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mumbai, Andhra post easy wins to qualify from their group for the knockouts

Chennai: Andhra and Mumbai posted wins over Gujarat and Goa on Monday to qualify for the national knockout phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy from Group ‘C’. While Andhra trounced Gujarat by nine wickets to notch up its fifth straight victory, Mumbai won its fourth game to make sure of advancing. KS Bharat with an unbeaten 106 (132 balls, 4X4, 4X6) and Ashwin Hebbar (99, 108 balls, 11X4, 2X6) helped Andhra steamroll Gujarat reaching the target of 251 in 45.2 overs. [caption id=“attachment_4174363” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative photo. Getty Images[/caption] Chasing Goa’s score of 266 for 8, Mumbai secured the win in the 47th over as the top-order got going. Shaw,who led India to a memorable triumph in the under-19 World Cup in New Zealand recently, put Mumbai on track with a well-crafted half century. He was involved in two important partnerships, first with Jay Bista for 64 runs and then with Surya Kumar Yadav (90 runs). The young right-hander hit six fours and a six in his innings of 53. Yadav then forged a 52-run stand with Tare, who scored an almost run-a-ball 50. Earlier, identical scores of 56 by former IPL star Swapnil Asnodkar and Suyash S Prabhudessai helped Goa make 266 in 50 overs. In the day’s other match, Team Rajasthan thumped Madhya Pradesh by seven wickets. Brief scores: Gujarat 250 all out in 50 overs (R H Bhatt 74, Piysh Chawla 56, Parthiv Patel 39, I Karthik Raman 4 for 32) lost to Andhra 251 for 1 in 45.2 overs (K S Bharat 101 not out, Ashwin Hebbar 99). Points: Andhra: 4 (20); Gujarat 0 (4). Goa 266 for 8 in 50 overs (Swapnil Asnodkar 56, Suyash Prabhudessai 56, Darshan Misal 34, Dhrumil Matkar 3 for 49) lost to Mumbai 267 for 6 in 46.3 overs (Surya Kumar Yadav 71, Aditya Tare 59, Prithvi Shaw 53, Lakshay Garg 3 for 52). Points: Mumbai: 4 (16); Goa: 0 (8). Madhya Pradesh 241 for 9 in 50 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 55, Anand Bais 51, Ankit Sharma 65, Syed Khaleel Ahmed 3 for 51) lost to Team Rajasthan 245 for 3 in 47.2 overs (Aditya Garhwal 108 (108 balls, 7X4, 2X6), Mahipal Lomror 51 not out). Points: Rajasthan: 4 (8); Madhya Pradesh: 0 (12).