Vijay Hazare Trophy, 2nd semi-final: Axar’s golden run takes Gujarat to the summit clash

Much of Gujarat’s campaign has been about exemplary comebacks and the pattern continued in the semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy against a highly rated Tamil Nadu team. Axar Patel’s golden run in the competition continued as his match-winning spell took his team to the final of India’s premier domestic one-day competition. Easily the best spell of the competition, the left-arm spinner’s 6/43 flummoxed the TN batsmen who struggled to judge the pace and length of his deliveries.

TN decided to bowl first having won the toss at the Alur Cricket Stadium in Bengaluru. R Satish gave his team a perfect start by removing the inform Parthiv Patel for 0 in the first over of the match. A 35-run partnership between Priyank Panchal and Bhargav Merai was ended when the latter was dismissed by L Balaji. Wickets kept tumbling and Gujarat found itself precariously placed at 87/5 in the 23rd over.

A fantastic partnership between Chirag Gandhi and Manpreet Juneja produced a much-needed rescue act for their team. Both batsmen decided to positively and produced attacking shots whenever presented with an opportunity. Gandhi was dismissed for a brilliant 71 off 82 which included 9 fours while Juneja scored 74 off 71 including 3 fours and 1 six. Rohit Dahiya’s unbeaten 21 off 25 took the score to 248/8 at the end of 50 overs. The TN bowlers were guilty of bowling as many as 11 wides as they failed to drive home the early advantage. R Ashwin took 3/51 while Vijay Shankar was impressive in his spell of 2/36.

The TN openers Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik gave their team a superb start by playing aggressive cricket. Karthik was the first to be dismissed for 41 off 51 that included 5 fours. The breakthrough, given by Axar Patel, turned the game on its head. This was the first of 4 stumpings for Parthiv off the bowling of Axar. Murali Vijay was dismissed for 0 as TN found itself reeling at 99/4 in the 21st over. Mukund kept batting solidly however wickets kept falling at the other end. Hardik Patel gave his team a crucial wicket by removing last R Satish, who was the hero for TN in the quarterfinal.

From 124/5, Mukund and Ashwin took the score to 175 before the Axar came back to remove his India team-mate who made 22 off 33. The left-arm spinners 6th wicket was that of Shankar who made a run-a-ball 10. TN needed 32 off 17 balls with the opener still batting on a solid 104 off 142 that included 6 fours however Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up the last 2 batsmen in successive deliveries to leave the southpaw stranded. A 31-run victory took Gujarat to the summit clash where they will face Delhi on 28th December. The match on Monday is a day-night affair at the historic M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Brief Scores:

Gujarat – 248/8 in 48.1 overs (M Juneja 74; R Ashwin 3/51)

Tamil Nadu – 217/10 in 47.3 overs (A Mukund 104; A Patel 6/43)

Man of the Match: Axar Patel (Gujrat)

Also check out: Vijay Hazare Trophy, 1st semi-final: Unmukt Chand drives Delhi into the final