Vijay Hazare: Pant's unbeaten half-ton in big Delhi win over Services; Axar hits century for Gujarat

Bengaluru, Jan 3 (PTI) India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant overcame a patchy form to strike an unbeaten half-century as Delhi thrashed Services by eight wickets to return to winning ways in a fifth-round Vijay Hazare Trophy Group D match here on Saturday.

Delhi rode on opener Priyansh Arya (72 not out off 45 balls) and Pant's (67 not out off 37 balls) half-tons to overhaul Services' meagre total of 178 all out in just 19.4 overs. The Pant-led side drastically improved their net run rate (NRR), which was battered following their crushing defeat by Odisha in the previous round in Alur.

Delhi are back on top of the table with 16 points and a healthy NRR of +0.803, followed by Haryana (16 points, +0.460). Odisha, Railways and Saurashtra are on 12 points each while Gujarat are on eight points.

This was Pant's second half-century in five games and came after two below-par performances with the bat. The timely unbeaten half-century came on a day when Pant was named in India's squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on January 11.

Delhi had slumped from pole position to fourth spot in the group following their 79-run defeat to Odisha, which was chiefly due to Pant's mixed fortunes this season in the domestic 50-over tournament and the top-order batters failing to fire.

But on Saturday, there were no such troubles for Delhi as India pacer Harshit Rana (4/47) and upcoming right-arm quick Prince Yadav (3/28) proving more than a handful for a weak Services batting line-up that struggled to come to terms with quality bowling.

Veteran pace bower Ishant Sharma (1/16) too chipped in with a wicket as Services' folded up in 42.5 overs after the team was reduced to 82 for 5 in the 26th over.

Delhi opener Priyansh Arya absorbed the early shock of losing opener Sarthak Ranjan for 4 by stitching together a 93-run stand with Nitish Rana (32 runs off 33 balls) following which he shared an unbeaten 85-runs partnership with Pant to compete the formalities even before the 20-over mark had been crossed.

Pant, with his free-flowing style of stroke-making, struck four boundaries and six maximums at a strike rate touching 182, while Arya matched his captain by striking nine boundaries and three sixes.

Axar Patel strikes century ================ Leading India all-rounder Axar Patel struck his maiden List A century -- 130 (111 balls) -- as Gujarat defeated Andhra by seven runs in a thrilling game in Alur.

Patel, playing his first Vijay Hazare match this season following the T20I series against South Africa recently, stabilised the innings just when his team was struggling at 99 for 5. He struck 10 boundaries and five sixes, and shared a 142-run stand with Vishal Jayswal (70 off 60 balls) for the sixth wicket as Gujarat built a sizeable total.

Haryana beat Odisha ============= Haryana, riding on young Parth Vats' superb all-round display (3/60 and 157 not out), aced a stiff 306-run chase versus Odisha with right balls to spare.

The 21-year-old Vats, who made his Ranji Trophy debut this season, struck his second domestic century, and first List A ton, in style by smashing 13 fours and five sixes.

The left-arm spinner first grabbed three wickets to restrict Odisha to 305 for 9 and then batted with gumption at a time when Haryana had lost three wickets for just 14 on the board.

Brief scores: Services 178 all out in 42.5 overs (Harshit Rana 4/47, Prince Yadav 3/28) lost to Delhi 182 for 2 in 19.4 overs (Priyansh Arya 72 not out, Nitish Rana 32, Rishabh Pant 67 not out) by 8 wickets.

Odisha 305 for 9 in 50 overs (Swastik Samal 101, Govinda Poddar 77, Biplab Samantray 47; Anuj Thakral 3/68, Parth Vats 3/60) lost to Haryana 309 for 6 in 48.4 overs (Parth Vats 157 not out, Anuj Thakral 59 not out) by 4 wickets.

Saurashtra 294 for 8 in 50 overs (Sammar Gajjar 147; Rahul Sharma 2/32, Kunal Yadav 3/71, Zubair Ali 3/82) beat Railways 263 in 49.1 overs (Upendra Yadav 86, Ashutosh Sharma 65; Ankur Panwar 3/49, Prerak Mankad 3/48) by 31 runs.

Gujarat 318 for 9 in 50 overs (Axar Patel 130, Vishal Jayswal 70; Nitish Kumar Reddy 2/65, Satyanarayana Raju 4/53, Midde Anjaneyulu 2/45) beat Andhra 311 for 7 in 50 overs (CR Gnaneshwar 102, SD Prasad 48 not out; Arzan Nagwaswalla 2/69, Axar Patel 2/27, Ravi Bishnoi 3/64) by 7 runs. PTI AM AM PDS PDS