Rajan, Pandey set up MP victory
Pacers Anand Rajan and Ishwar Pandey shared six wickets between them as Madhya Pradesh registered a comfortable five-wicket win over Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (Central Zone) match, here on Friday.
Opting to field, Madhya Pradesh restricted Uttar Pradesh to 205 for nine in their alloted 50 overs, and then chased down the target in just 39.5 overs at Holkar Cricket Stadium.
Rajan picked up four for 51 while Ishwar returned with figures of two for 36.
Madhya Pradesh’s middle-order fired in unison as Jatin Saxena top-scored with a knock of 45 while skipper Udit Birla made 44.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh relied on the experience of Mohammad Kaif (55) and skipper Suresh Raina (36) to cross the 200-run mark.
While Kaif struck three fours and a six in his 73-ball stay at the crease, Raina had six hits to the fence.
Vidarbha edge Railways
Opener Amit Paunikar’s big hundred for Railways went in vain as Vidarbha prevailed by one run via VJD method in a rain-interrupted Central Zone match at Indore.
After being sent in to bat, Railways scored 242 for six, built around Paunikar’s 150-run knock.
Vidarbha were given revised target of 213 runs from 46 overs, which they achieved by losing six wickets. When VJD method was applied, Vidarbha emerged winners by one run.
Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh: 205/9 in 50 overs (Mohammad Kaif 55, Suresh Raina 36; Anand Rajan 4-51, Ishwar Pandey 2-36) lt to Madhya Pradesh: 211/5 in 39.5 overs (Jatin Saxena 45, Udit Birla 44, Harpreet Singh 41 n.o., Rameez Khan 36; Imitiaz Ahmed picked 4-65).
Railways: 242/6 in 50 overs (Amit Paunikar 150; Shrikant Wagh 3-59) lt to Vidarbha (target 213 from 46 overs): 213/6 in 46 overs (Akhsay Kolhar 90, Shalabh Shrivastava 48; Ashish Yadav 2-47). Vidarbha won by 1 run by VJD method.
