Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout: Delhi eyes quarterfinal spot

After finishing second in Group ‘D', Delhi booked a clash with Plate Group topper Uttarakhand for a place in the last-eight. Should Delhi win, it plays Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday in the third quarterfinal.

Delhi's Nitish Rana in action. (File Photo)

After an impressive show in the league stage, Delhi will eye a place in the quarterfinal of the Vijay Hazare (50-over) trophy when it takes on Uttarakhand at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here on Sunday.

After finishing second in Group ‘D’ behind Mumbai, with four wins from five matches, Delhi booked a clash with Plate Group topper Uttarakhand for a place in the last-eight. Should Delhi win, it will play Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday in the third quarterfinal.

 

The line-up of other quarterfinals - Gujarat v Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka v Kerala (both on Monday) and Mumbai v Saurashtra (on Tuesday). The other venue for the competition is the Air Force ground, Palam, in the Capital.

Delhi will miss the services of Shikhar Dhawan. The southpaw has gone into quarantine ahead of the India-England T20 series. Ishant Sharma could join the squad should Delhi’s campaign go deep in the championship.

 

Overall, Mumbai looks like the team to beat though it will be without Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav. The duo is also part of the India squad for England T20s.

The contest between defending champion Karnataka and Kerala promises plenty of action. Kerala has not done too well in the past, while Karnakata is aiming for its fifth title.

 

Gujarat was impressive in topping Group A ahead of Baroda and Hyderabad, while Andhra was lucky to head a four-way tie including Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, in Group ‘B’.