Vijay Hazare Trophy: Unmukt, Himmat set up Delhi's 112-run victory

After a jittery start, Delhi revived itself, thanks to an 86-run fifth wicket stand between Unmukt Chand and Himmat Singh that propelled the team to a match-winning total of 220.

Unmukt Chand, wanting to make a statement after suffering the ignominy of being dropped from the team initially, crafted a 110-ball 78.

Delhi, in its 112-run victory versus Uttar Pradesh, could look to invest in youngsters like Himmat Singh and Kulwant Khejroliya.

Delhi won its concluding match of the Vijay Hazare tournament in style to brush aside the defeats that the team encountered in the first three matches against Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. The result saw Delhi finish fourth in the group behind Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh in that order and ahead of Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.

Unmukt Chand, wanting to make a statement after suffering the ignominy of being dropped from the team initially, crafted a 110-ball innings of 78 with ten fours to make his presence felt. Chand opened in the company of Shikhar Dhawan as veteran Gautam Gambhir reported ill.

Dhawan’s miserable run with the bat continued and his failure put Delhi on the defensive after skipper Rishabh Pant and Milind Kumar fell cheaply. At 85 for four, Delhi feared embarrassment at the hands of Uttar Pradesh before Himmat stepped up to grab the chance.

Much had been said of Himmat’s entry to the team. There was little doubt about his talent but the fast-tracking of this stroke-player to the team was not appreciated by most. The young middle-order batsman, however, silenced his critics with a 54-ball 54 that contained six fours and a six.

It helped Himmat that he had Chand for company as Delhi rebuilt its innings. The pair added 86 runs for the fifth wicket, a critical partnership.

Left-arm Khejroliya, who was included in the team as a cover for Ashish Nehra, next took over the job with a spell that rocked Uttar Pradesh. He accounted for four of the top brass wickets as Uttar Pradesh crashed to an embarrassing 16 for five. Khejroliya, who finished with five wickets, removed Prashant Gupta, Akshdeep Nath, Sarfaraz Khan, Saurabh Kumar and Amit Mishra while Subodh Bhati and Vikas Tokas claimed two wickets each.

Uttar Pradesh looked to make a fight of it through Rinku Singh (43) and Praveen Kumar (28) but the batting lacked the substance to go the distance. For Delhi, it was a fine end after a poor start in the tournament. The roles played by Chand, Himmat and Khejroliya augur well for the young Delhi team.

Brief scores:

Delhi 220 in 48.4 overs (Unmukt Chand 78, Himmat Singh 54, Ankit Rajpoot three for 32) beats Uttar Pradesh 108 in 21.3 overs (Rinku Singh 43, Kulwant Khejroliya five for 22) by 112 runs.