Vijay Hazare Trophy: Saurabh Tiwary, Kumar Deobrat guide Jharkhand to six wicket win over Hyderabad in rain-curtailed match

Bengaluru: Fifties from Kumar Deobrat and Saurabh Tiwary helped Jharkhand trounce Hyderabad by 6 wickets in a rain-curtailed Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Saturday. The match played at Just Cricket Ground was reduced to 34 overs per side. [caption id=“attachment_7457251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo Saurabh Tiwary. AFP[/caption] Set a target of 193, Jharkhand, riding on half-centuries by Deobrat (56 off 55 balls) and Tiwary (61 not out off 47 balls), romped home with two balls to spare. The start for Jharkhand was not good as they lost openers Anand Singh (15) and Utkarsh Singh (1) cheaply and were teetering at 27-2. But then Deobrat, who struck five fours and four sixes, conjured a crucial 66-run stand for the third wicket with skipper Ishan Kishan (31). When Deobrat fell, Jharkhand needed 100 runs to win. Then Saurabh Tiwary held one end and played a match-winning knock, striking seven fours and a six. He first got support from Kishan and then stitched a match-winning 78-run unbeaten stand with Virat Singh (24 not out). Earlier, electing to bat, Hyderabad put up 192/7 on the board with their skipper Ambati Rayadu top-scoring with 69. For them, the opening pair of Tanmay Agarwal (34) and Akshath Reddy (25) conjured 65 runs for the first wicket. But Jharkhand came back into the game by grabbing two quick wickets. Skipper Ambati then played a mature innings and steadied the Hyderabad ship. He struck three fours and four sixes. But after he fell, it was a middle-order collapse and the side was restricted to 192/7. Meanwhile, there was no result in the Mumbai versus Andhra match due to rains. After choosing to bat at the Alur Cricket Stadium, Andhra had made 51/2 before rain halted the game. The four points were split equally among the two teams. Brief Scores: Hyderabad 192/7 (Ambati Rayadu 69, Tanmay Agarwal 34; Anukul Roy 2-30) in 34 overs lost to Jharkhand 193/4 (Saurabh Tiwary 61 not out, Kumar Deobrat 56; CV Milind 2-25) by six wickets.