Vijay Hazare Group E: Mumbai stunned by Services; Railways wins thriller against Pondicherry; Bengal beats Mizoram

Shubham Rohilla and Ravi Chauhan slammed sensational tons as Services stunned Mumbai with an eight-wicket win in the Vijay Hazare (Group E) match here in Ranchi on Sunday.

File Photo: Ravi Chauhan’s sensational ton helped Services clinch an eight-wicket win against Mumbai. | Photo Credit:  Sandeep Saxena/The Hindu

Shubham Rohilla (135, 119b, 15x4, 4x6) and Ravi Chauhan (100, 120b, 11x4, 1x6) slammed sensational tons as Services stunned Mumbai with an eight-wicket win in the Vijay Hazare (Group E) match in Ranchi on Sunday.

Asked to bat first, Mumbai posted a 264 for nine riding on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 104 (122b, 13x4). Jaiswal and skipper Ajinkya Rahane (43) added 105 for the third wicket stand and set a great platform for Mumbai. However, Services fought back after dismissing Rahane as Mumbai slipped from 140 for two to 188 for six.

Later, Shams Mulani’s 48 and Tanush Kotian’s unbeaten 26 off just 16 balls helped Mumbai recover and finish strongly. For Services, Diwesh Pathania scalped three wickets.

Chasing 265, openers Rohilla and Chauhan took the Mumbai bowling apart as they stitched together a 235-run partnership in just 37.4 overs and helped Services chase down the target with 27 balls to spare.

In the second match of the group, Bengal blew away a hapless Mizoram by nine wickets.

Electing to bat first, Mizoram was shot out for just 57 in 21.2 overs with a complete bowling performance from Bengal.

Left-arm pacer Geet Puri (3/15) got things rolling for Bengal taking the first three wickets before left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik ran through the lower order with four wickets in less than three overs (2.2-1-2-4).

Only two Mizoram batters managed to get to double figures with Joseph Lalthankhuma top-scoring with 21.

It took Bengal only 6.2 overs to chase down the target and gave the team a much-needed boost to its net run rate after going down tamely to Mumbai in the opening fixture.

In the third match of Group E, Railways prevailed over Pondicherry in a thriller chasing 290 by three wickets with just five balls to spare thanks to a brilliant hundred from Shivam Chaudhary (115, 125b, 7x4, 4x6).

He got support from Upendra Yadav who made a crucial contribution of 61 (65b, 6x4) as the duo’s 121-run stand for the fourth wicket proved crucial. Later Shubham Chaubey slammed an unbeaten 36 (23b, 2x4, 2x6) and saw off the chase.

Earlier, put into bat first, Pondicherry managed 289 for nine riding on Paras Dogra’s 102 (89b, 8x4, 4x6) and K.B. Arun Karthick’s 80 (109b, 4x4, 2x6). The experienced pair added 116 runs for the fourth wicket stand to help their side post a competitive total but in the end, it was not enough.