Suryakumar Yadav leads Mumbai to six-wicket win

Chasing 270, Mumbai had Suryakumar Yadav make an unbeaten century which helped it coast to the target with 39 balls to spare.

Suryakumar Yadav led Mumbai to a six-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh with an unbeaten 123.

Defending champion Karnataka finally tasted victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating Vidarbha by six wickets at the Alur Ground near here on Sunday.

Set a lowly 126 to win, the Manish Pandey-led side came home in 32.3 overs to take its tally to six points from five games. It stuttered in the middle, slumping to 61 for four after being 46 for no loss. But Shreyas Gopal (34 n.o., 48b, 1x4, 1x6) and Mir Kaunain Abbas (35 n.o., 50b, 3x4, 1x6) nudged their way out of trouble before the latter finished things with a six and a four off left-arm spinner Ravi Jangid.

As it happened

But the win may well have come a little too late for Karnataka. From the combined 18 Elite ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams, only five will qualify for the quarterfinals. With three matches remaining, the maximum Karnataka can reach is 18 points. However, with four teams having already secured 18 points or more, the task is nigh impossible.

On the day though, Karnataka was efficient. It tied Vidarbha in knots on what was a fine pitch to bat on. The openers were dismissed with just 22 runs scored. Sanjay Ramaswamy, who replaced the injured Faiz Fazal, was out courtesy a leaping one-handed effort by wicket-keeper B.R. Sharath. The 22-year-old, who took the place of C.M. Gautam, would go on to take three more catches to cap an impressive display behind the stumps.

Former Karnataka batsman Ganesh Satish (50, 68b, 4x4, 1x6) and Atharva Taide (32, 39b, 3x4, 1x6) resisted. But K. Gowtham (three for 34) and Shreyas (three for 13) strangled the Vidarbha middle-order. Once Ganesh was caught behind, edging a loosener from Vinay Kumar, to become the seventh batsman back in the pavilion, Vidarbha folded quickly.

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The 2017-18 Ranji champion’s neighbour Mumbai however had little trouble dispatching Himachal Pradesh. No.4 batsman Surya Kumar Yadav led from front with an excellent ton (123 n.o., 103b, 16x4, 3x6) as Mumbai made quick work of the seemingly stiff 270-run target, winning by six wickets and more than five overs to spare.

At 89 for three, Mumbai was in a spot of bother, needing to score at six an over. But first Shivam Dube (35, 32b, 2x2, 2x6), who had to his credit a massive six which landed in the adjacent ground, and then Shams Mulani (41 n.o., 42b, 2x4, 2x6) combined well with Surya Kumar to stretch Mumbai’s unbeaten run in the tournament to five matches.