Kohli and Pant fifties help Delhi edge Gujarat by 7 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Virat Kohli (77) and Rishabh Pant (70) guided Delhi to a narrow seven-run win over Gujarat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Despite strong starts, Gujarat collapsed to 247 all out chasing 255, with Prince Yadav and Ishant Sharma striking late
Bengaluru: Star batters Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant made solid fifties, while Gujarat batters faltered as Delhi eked out a tight seven-run win in their Elite Group D match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Friday.
Player of the match Kohli (77, 61 balls) and Pant (70, 79 balls) carried Delhi to a modest 254 for nine in 50 overs. Despite looking solid in patches, Gujarat folded for 247 in 47.4 overs.
Kohli and Pant offered the main story thread of the day with knocks of contrasting nature. Kohli had to walk in early after the dismissal of opener Priyansh Arya and looked in excellent touch. After blocking the first ball, Kohli straight drove pacer Chintan Gaja for a four, manifesting his rich vein of form.
While other Delhi batters were often pushed to tight corners by Gujarat bowlers, Kohli was fluency personified. A pulled six off Gaja and a stunning flicked four off Arzan Nagwaswalla followed as Kohli slipped into top gear. The 37-year-old reached his fifty in 29 balls with 10 fours and a six. He brought up his 85th List A half-century off Ravi Bishnoi, carving the leg-spinner for a boundary over covers.
A second century on the trot looked certain but a fine ball from left-arm spinner Vishal Jayswal (4/42) ended his stay. Jayswal had earlier accounted for Nitish Rana and Arpit. Delhi was 108 for four then, and needed momentum to drag the innings back on track.
Delhi found a saviour in skipper Pant, who curbed his aggressive instincts to keep the innings together. He reached his fifty in 64 balls before falling to Jayswal after a 73-run stand with Harsh Tyagi (40). Simarjeet Singh and Ishant Sharma added 19 runs for the final wicket to take Delhi past 250.
Gujarat implode
Chasing 255 was not a daunting target on a slightly tacky BCCI Centre of Excellence pitch, but Gujarat faltered. They made a confident start with two fine stands — 67 for the first wicket between Urvil Patel (31) and Aarya Desai (57), and 54 between Aarya and Abhishek Desai.
At 121 for one in 25 overs, Gujarat looked comfortable. But they lost four wickets for 23 runs to slip to 144 for five. Saurav Chauhan (49, 43 balls) and Vishal Jayswal added 69 runs for the sixth wicket to revive hopes.
Chauhan, who once played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, hammered Arpit for two sixes to keep the asking rate in check. But Simarjeet Singh dismissed him, and Gujarat lost wickets in a cluster. The run out of Gaja left them needing 12 runs off 17 balls with a wicket in hand, but Prince Yadav (3/37) dismissed Bishnoi. Kohli ran in from covers to complete the catch and roared in delight as Delhi sealed victory.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 254/9 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 77, Rishabh Pant 70, Harsh Tyagi 40; Vishal Jayswal 4/42) bt Gujarat 247 all out in 47.4 overs (Aarya Desai 57, Saurav Chauhan 49; Prince Yadav 3/37, Ishant Sharma 2/28) by 7 runs.
Services 83 all out in 21.5 overs (Rajesh Mohanty 4/25, Sambit Baral 4/21) lost to Odisha 84/6 in 24.3 overs (Sandeep Pattnaik 32 n.o.; Poonam Poonia 4/27).
Railways 266/9 in 50 overs (Ravi Singh 76, Ansh Yadav 59, Zubair Ali 48; Satyanarayana Raju 3/41, Narasimha Raju 3/68) lost to Andhra 271/4 in 44.4 overs (Ricky Bhui 76, Nitish Kumar Reddy 55 n.o., Hemanth Reddy 41 n.o.; Karn Sharma 3/46).
Saurashtra 253 all out in 50 overs (Harvik Desai 101, Sammar Gajjar 83; Anshul Kamboj 3/30) lost to Haryana 256/4 in 39 overs (Yashvardhan Dalal 164 n.o., Parth Vats 67; Ankur Panwar 3/51).
