Vijay Hazare Trophy: Surya Kumar Yadav's unbeaten 84 leads Mumbai to first win; Hyderabad beat Karnataka

Bengaluru: Skipper Shreyas Iyer and Surya Kumar Yadav hit responsible fifties as defending champions Mumbai registered their first win in the Vijay Hazare Trophy after defeating Saurashtra by five wickets. After restricting Saurashtra to 245/9 in their Elite Group A match at the Alur cricket stadium III near here, Mumbai romped home with two overs to spare courtesy Iyer’s gritty 75 and Surya’s formidable unbeaten 85. [caption id=“attachment_4344145” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Getty[/caption] Asked to bat first, Saurashtra opener Harvik Desai (0) was trapped in front of the wicket by experienced pacer Dhawal Kulkarni. Then Sheldon Jackson (35) and one-down Samarth Vyas (34) tried to resurrect the innings with their 78-run stand for the second wicket. But as the duo was poised for a big score, spinner Shams Mulani sent them back in quick succession as Saurashtra were in a spot of bother at 3-79. Arpit Vasavada showed some composure and made a gritty 59 off 75 balls, striking five fours, to rebuild the Saurashtra innings. After Vasavada fell, it was due to an unbeaten 40 by number 7 batsman Chirag Jani, that Saurashtra went past the 240-run mark. For Mumbai,experienced pacer Shardul Thakur, who has played for India, and spinner Shams Mulani grabbed three wickets each. The chase was not a walk in the park for the Vinayak Samant coached team as they lost Jay Bista (2) and Siddesh Lad (0) inside the first two overs. Then skipper Shreyas Iyer (73) and Aditya Tare (29) conjured a 101-run stand for the third wicket to steady Mumbai’s ship. The duo took the Saurashtra bowlers to task as Iyer struck eight fours and two sixes in his 82-ball knock, while Tare hit two boundaries. However, after the two and all-rounder Shivam Dube (9) walked back to the pavilion, Surya Kumar Yadav (85 not out) took the onus and stitched an unbeaten 115-run stand with Shubham Ranjane (45 not out) as the duo ensured that the team registered a win. Surya’s blazing knock had nine fours and three sixes, while Ranjane played the perfect foil, striking four boundaries and a six as the two took Mumbai home. In the second Elite Group A game, Hyderabad defeated Karnataka by 21 runs to grab four points. India discard Ambati Rayadu, who came out of retirement, held the fort for Hyderabad with an unbeaten 87 and later slow-left arm orthodox bowler B Sandeep grabbed four wickets. Brief Scores: Saurashtra 245/9 (A V Vasavada 59, Chirag Jani 40 not out; Shardul Thakur 3-36) lost to Mumbai 248/5 (Surya Kumar Yadav 85 not out, Shreyas Iyer 73, Shubham Ranjane 45 not out; Kushang Patel 2-13) by 5 wickets. Mumbai 4 points, Saurashtra 0 points. Hyderabad 198/9 (Ambati Rayudu 87 not out, C V Milind 36; Ronit More 2-31) beat Karnataka 177 all out (Devdutt Paddikal 60, Manish Pandey 48; B Sandeep 4-35) by 21 runs. Hyderabad 4 points, Karnataka 0 points.