Dhruv Shorey's maiden hundred and Pradeep Sangwan's first-ever five-for in one-dayers catapulted Delhi to a thumping eight-wicket win over Maharashtra in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Group B match at the HPCA Stadium here on Friday.
Electing to field, the Ishant Sharma-led side restricted Maharashtra to 246 and achieved the target in 44.1 overs. It was Delhi's third straight victory.
Delhi applied brakes on Maharashtra in time as Sangwan dismissed the dashing Ruturaj Gaikwad (41 off 28, 6x4, 2x6), who stepped out to hit Ishant for two sixes in an over. The leading edge was held by Unmukt Chand in the slips.
Sangwan dealt another blow by snaring Rahul Tripathi, who was caught behind while hooking the left-arm pacer. Nitish Rana and Pawan Negi relished the wrong choice of shots by Ankit Bawne and Naushad Shaikh respectively.
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Negi's precision and a hint of turn fetched him two more scalps, smartly stumped by Rishabh Pant. Shamshuzama Kazi (59 off 62, 6x4, 2x6) rescued Maharashtra from 148 for six by adding 24 with Vijay Zol (46 off 93, 3x4) and 47 with Anupam Sanklecha (22 off 19, 2x6).
Sangwan, who also scalped Zol, bowled intelligently to claim Kazi and Dadhe in the last two deliveries of the innings.
Delhi lost Unmukt early, but Hiten Dalal and Shorey steadied the ship.
Dalal, who got his third consecutive half-century in his debut tournament, made light of a painful left leg to register his highest score (87 off 85 balls, 14x4, 1x6). The 23-year-old was severe on pacers Pradeep Dadhe and Shrikant Mundhe and pulled Anupam Sanklecha for a six to reach his fifty. Dalal, who was caught at deep mid-wicket off Mundhe, and Shorey stood for a crucial 134-run partnership and made the chase smoother.
Shorey, who got a life on 73 off Dadhe, batted with purpose. His unbeaten knock (103 off 121) consisted of 16 impressive boundaries, mostly through cuts and pulls. Shorey forged an unbroken 98-run stand with Rana (49 off off 52, 4x4, 2x6) as he proved his worth in the 50-over format following his good show in T20s.
“You have to take responsibility. A century for the team is always special,” said Shorey.
In another match, Ankit Kaushik's career-best knock (83 not out off 77, 7x4, 2x6) guided Himachal Pradesh to a sensational one-wicket win over Kerala at Amtar.
Kaushik added 54 runs with last man Vinay Galetiya (1) to witness victory in the final delivery.
Brief Scores:
At Dharamshala: Maharashtra 246 in 50 overs (Shamshuzama Kazi 59, Vijay Zol 46, Ruturaj Gaikwad 41, Pradeep Sangwan five for 41, Pawan Negi three for 40) lost to Delhi 250 for two in 44.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 103 not out, Hiten Dalal 87, Nitish Rana 49 not out).
At Amtar: Kerala 271 for seven in 50 overs (Sachin Baby 95, Vishnu Vinod 66, Pankaj Jaswal three for 51) lost to Himachal Pradesh 273 for nine in 50 overs (Ankit Kaushik 83 not out, Nikhil Gangta 62, Akshay K.C. four for 32, Asif K.M. three for 65).
At Bilaspur: Uttar Pradesh 329 for four in 50 overs (Akshdeep Nath 103 not out, Prashant Gupta 60, Umang Sharma 51, Mohd. Saif 50 not out) bt Bengal 322 in 49.4 overs (Vivek Singh 147, Anustup Majumder 51, Ankit Rajpoot three for 51).
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