Rajkot: Kerala defeated Uttarakhand by five wickets to reach the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy ODI Cricket. In the quarterfinals to be held in Jaipur on the 22nd, Services will be the opponents. For the first time in the history of the tournament, Kerala won the group. This is the third time he has played in the quarterfinals. Kerala’s first quarter entry was in 2012-13. They lost to Assam in the semi-finals that day. Kerala played in the quarterfinals last season as well but lost to Karnataka. Uttarakhand, who batted first in the Group D match at Rajkot, scored 224 for nine. In reply Kerala won the toss and elected to bat with 86 balls to spare. Former skipper Sachin Baby (83 off 71 balls with two sixes and seven fours) and Sijomon Joseph (three) put on the winning run. Skipper and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson (33 off 36 balls), Vishnu Vinod (34 off 25 balls, two sixes and a four), Vinoop Manoharan (27 off 27 balls, a six, 28 off three fours) and opener Rohan Kunnummal (26 off 36 balls) were the top scorers. Kerala are the group champions with 16 points from five matches, including four wins and one loss.
Though Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have 16 points each, Kerala has the best run average. Uttarakhand, who have four points from five matches, and Chandigarh, who have not opened their account, are trailing.
Captain and opener Jay Biswa (93 off 114 balls, including three sixes and six fours) smashed 200 runs for Uttarakhand. Dikshanshu Negi (52 off 68 balls, including four fours) shone with a half-century. MD for Kerala Nidheesh took three wickets.
Basil Thampi took two wickets while Jalaj Saxena and Vinoop Manoharan took one wicket each. Vaibhav Bhatt (10) and Robin Bisht (7) were run out. In another group match, Maharashtra beat Chandigarh by five wickets. Batting first, Chandigarh scored 309 for seven. In reply, Maharashtra reached the target with seven balls to spare.
Chandigarh skipper and opener Manan Vohra (141 off 139 balls) shone with a century. Arsal Khan (87) and Ankit Kaushik (56) also shone with half-centuries. Captain Rituraj Gaikwad’s fourth consecutive century led Maharashtra to victory. Rituraj hit 168 off 132 balls with six sixes and 12 fours. Azim Kazi scored 73 off 79 balls. Madhya Pradesh beat Chhattisgarh by three runs. Batting first, Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 191. In reply, Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 188 by Chhattisgarh.
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