UP batters, spinners overpower Hyderabad by 84 runs in Vijay Hazare opener

Rajkot, Dec 24 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh batters, including T20 World Cup-bound Rinku Singh, fired in unison before the spinners did the damage as they outclassed Hyderabad by 84 runs in their opening Vijay Hazare Trophy Group B match here on Wednesday.

Abhishek Goswami (81), Aryan Juyal (80), Dhruv Jurel (80) and Rinku (67) struck contrasting half-centuries to power Uttar Pradesh to a formidable 324 for five after being asked to bat.

The bowlers then ensured there was no late twist, with List-A debutants Zeeshan Ansari (4/31) and Prashant Veer (3/47), who recently secured a whopping Rs 14.2 crore IPL deal with Chennai Super Kings alongside Vipraj Nigam spinning a web around the Hyderabad batters, despite the best efforts of Tanmay Agarwal (53) and Buddhi Rahul (47).

The trio shared eight wickets between them as Hyderabad were bowled out well short of the target, while pacer Kartik Tyagi chipped in with two wickets.

In another Group B game, fifties by Abhishek Porel (56), skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (71) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (68) and Shahbaz Ahmed (71) cancelled out centuries by Aman Mokhande (110) and Dhruv Shorey (136) as Bengal eked out a three-wicket win over Vidarbha.

Out-of-favour India pacer Mohammed Shami (2/65) and off spinner Aamir Gani shared four wickets between them as Vidarbha posted a challenging 382/5.

But a collective batting performance ensured Bengal logged in their first points.

Vishnu Solanki's late heroics sealed a five wicket win for Boroda against Assam in their opening Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture.

Chasing 283, Solanki scored an unbeaten 62-ball 88 and shared a 100-run sixth stand with Bhanu Pania (43 not out) after Priyanshu Moliya scored 73 to overhaul the target.

Solank's 62-ball innings was laced with 10 fours and two sixes.

Pradyun Saikia (67), captain Sumit Ghadigaonkar (55) and Sibsankar Roy (55) scored half centuries for Assam.

In another Group B match, medium pacer Lone Nasir starred with the ball before Shubham Khajuria's century powered Jammu and Kashmir to a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Chandigarh.

Opting to bowl, Nasir returned with figures of 4/44, removing three of Chandigarh's top five batters as they were bundled out for 208.

Openers Qamran Iqbal (73) and Khajuria (129 off 105 balls) then made light work of the chase, smashing a combined 27 boundaries to guide Jammu and Kashmir home with 78 balls to spare.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 324 for 5 in 50 overs (Abhishek Goswami 81, Arjun Juyal 80, Dhriv Jurel 80; Md Arfaz 2/59) defeated Hyderabad 240 all out in 43 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 53, Buddhi Rahul 47; Zeeshan Ansari 4/31) by 84 runs.

Vidarbha 382 for 5 in 50 overs (Dhruv Shorey 136, Aman Mohande 110; Mohammed Shami 2/65) lost to Bengal 383 for 7 in 48.5 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 71, Shahbaz Ahmed 71; Parth Rekhade 2/66) by 3 wickets.

Assam 282 all out in 48.4 overs (Pradyun Saikia 67; Atit Sheth 4/56) lost to Baroda 283 for 5 in 47.5 overs (Vishnu Solanki 88 not out; Swarupam Purkayastha 3/44) by 5 wickets.

Chandigarh 208 all out in 39.5 overs (Taranpreet Singh 43, Tushar Joshi 42; Lone Nasir 4/44) lost to J&K 209/0 in 37 overs (Shubham Khajuria 129, Qamran Iqbal 73; Nishunk Birla 0/32) by 10 wickets. PTI APA SSC SSC