Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017-18, Day 3 – Round Up

From Odisha upstaging Railways in the opener of day three to Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh's cameo going in vain in a thrilling last-ball encounter - it was an exciting day in the tournament.

Published - 07 Feb 2018, 21:35 IST | Updated - 07 Feb 2018, 21:35 IST

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The third day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy witnessed some turnarounds, excitement, and sheer determination on part of the teams win the contest. From Odisha upstaging Railways in the opener of day three to Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh‘s cameo going in vain in a thrilling last-ball encounter. It was followed by a tied match between two top-quality sides, Bengal and Kerela, and other three encounters were nothing short of a one-way affair.

In the first of six encounters, Odisha’s skipper Govinda Poddar won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first. Batting on a morning wicket, Railways’ openers were expected to give their side a rock-solid start. Picking two wickets for just 37 put Odisha right on top. Few cameos in the middle-order directed Railways towards 212. Abhishek Raut was the pick of the bowler for his side. In reply, Odisha found it difficult to chase as Manjeet Singh bowled a dream spell, and settled with a 5-wicket haul.

The second encounter between Haryana and Punjab was nothing short of phenomenal. It posed a question from players from both sides with almost every delivery. The toss fell in favour of Haryana and Mishra opted to bowl first. Under-19 World Cup hero, Shubman Gill got an opportunity to open the innings with experienced campaigner Manan Vohra. Their partnership didn’t last long as the middle-order had to take the charge very early in the innings. Yuvraj was once again the leader with the bat for Punjab scoring 43 runs. On the other hand, when Haryana came out to bat, they found it difficult to chase and won with just one ball remaining.

The superlative contest between Kerela and Bengal was indeed a close one as even 600 odd balls couldn’t separate two sides as the match ended in a draw. Kerela opting to bat first posted 235 runs on the board with a sensational inning from Jalaj Saxena at the top. In reply, Haryana batsmen couldn’t convert the starts into a big score and lost wickets in almost every eighth over. With an all-round effort on the field by Kerela, they were able to restrict them to the same score.

The game between Tripura and Delhi helped populous witness sheer dominance from the Delhi team that recently got its hands on Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Opting to bowl, Delhi bowlers couldn’t restrict Tripura for a low total as they posted 298 runs on the board. In reply, Delhi opener Unmukt Chand who played with a broken jaw in the last encounter scored a blistering half-century at the top followed by a remarkable knock from Nitish Rana helped Delhi chase the target in under 40 overs.

The Group B encounter between Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh was one-way traffic in favour of Maharashtra. Almost every batsman in the Maharashtrian lineup got going with Ankit Bawne being the stand out performer scoring a dazzling hundred with an astonishing strike rate of 110.38. His innings helped them to post a mammoth total of 343 runs on the board. In reply, Uttar Pradesh were well short and got all out for 238 runs in less than 45 overs.

The match between Karnataka and Baroda was won by Karnataka by the VJD method as it was interrupted by rain. Batting first, Karnataka posted a mammoth total of 312 runs on the board with a superlative century from the opener Mayank Agarwal. In reply, Baroda batsmen had no answers for the combined effort of Krishnappa Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal who picked seven wickets between them. As a result, Baroda were able to make just 180 runs in 37 overs.