Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], December 29 (ANI): Puducherry captain Aman Khan endured a tough outing with the ball as he conceded 123 runs from his ten overs against Jharkhand on Monday in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, registering the most expensive spell in List A cricket history.
Khan’s figures surpassed the previous unwanted record of 0/116 in nine overs, set by Arunachal Pradesh’s Mibom Mosu against Bihar last week.
Batting first, Jharkhand put on a commanding display with the bat to post a massive total of 368/7 in their allotted 50 overs. The innings was built around solid contributions from Utkarsh Singh, who scored 74, captain Kumar Kushagra, who struck a fluent 105, and Anukul Roy, who narrowly missed out on a hundred, remaining unbeaten on 98.
Chasing a steep target, Puducherry were bowled out for 235, falling well short. Jharkhand’s bowlers kept things tight, with Rajandeep Singh finishing with figures of 3/47, while Anukul Roy also made a telling impact with the ball, picking up 2/58.
Anukul’s all-round performance earned him the Player of the Match award, capping off a dominant outing for Jharkhand, who sealed a comprehensive victory by 133 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter.
In other matches, wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel’s superb 160, Rinku Singh’s 63, all-rounder Shardul Thakur’s four-wicket haul and Delhi’s Priyansh Arya’s fifty, among others, were the highlights on Tuesday in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025-26.
In the Group D elite clash, Railways showcased a brilliant batting performance to post a massive total of 365/7 in their 50 overs. Ravi Singh’s 46-ball 88 was the standout knock, which included six fours and seven sixes.
In response, Sagar Dahiya’s valiant 95-run knock went in as Services were bundled out for 281, losing the game by 84 runs. For Railways, Raj Choudhary (3/27) shines with the ball.
In the match between Saurashtra and Delhi, Saurashtra’s Vishvaraj Jadeja hammered 115 off 104 balls along with a superb unbeaten 95 off 65 balls from Ruchit Ahir that guided their side to score 320/7 on the board.
While chasing, Priyansh Arya played a solid knock of 78 runs followed by a late rescue knock of Navdeep Saini (34*) that hekoed Delhi to secure a thrilling three-wicket win.
In the Group C game, Mumbai’s Shardul Thakur dismantled the Chhattisgarh top order in a blistering opening spell. Chhattisgarh lost their first four wickets for just 10 runs, with Thakur claiming all four early scalps, including the wickets of Anuj Tiwary and Mayank Verma.
However, captain Amandeep Khare staged a resilient recovery alongside Ajay Mandal. Khare anchored the innings with a patient 63 off 103 balls, while Mandal provided crucial support with a steady 46 as Chhattisgarh was eventually bowled out for 142 in 38.1 overs.
Chasing 143, Mumbai made light work of the chase as they finished the match in just 24 overs with Angkrish Raghuvanshi scoring 68 off 66 balls and Siddhesh Lad scoring a 42-ball 48.
In another fixture of VHT, Odisha won the toss and elected to field, restricting Andhra to a modest 221 runs. Andhra’s innings struggled to find momentum early on, losing opener Ashwin Hebbar for just two and Nitish Kumar Reddy for just six, leaving them reeling at 35/2.
Odisha’s bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals, ensuring Andhra never reached a commanding position. Despite some late-order resistance to push the score past 200, Andhra was eventually bowled out, setting Odisha a target of 222 to win.
While chasing, Om T Munde (91 off 111 balls) and Govinda Poddar (89 off 105 balls) ensured Odisha chased down the 222-run target in 43.4 overs, winning the contest by six wickets.
In another fixture of the VHT, Punjab found themselves in a precarious position at 111/6, with star openers Abhishek Sharma (30) and Prabhsimran Singh (28) failing to convert their starts and the middle order crumbling under pressure against Uttarakhand.
However, a gritty knock of Salil Arora, who scored a vital 65 off 83 balls, allowed Punjab to claw their way back. He was supported by Krish Bhagat (51), as Punjab posted a competitive total of 269/8.
In response, Kunal Chandela slammed a match-winning century (118 off 114 balls), guiding his side to a five-wicket win after Uttarakhand chased down the 270-run target in 47.4 overs.
Kerala bowlers delivered a disciplined performance, restricting Madhya Pradesh to 214 all out. Kerala’s bowling effort was led by Ankit Sharma, who was the pick of the bowlers with impressive figures of 4/38, leaving Kerala with a target of 215 to chase.
While defending 215 runs, Madhya Pradesh bowlers Shubham Sharma (3/16), Saranash Jain (2/17) and Shivang Kumar (2/42) produced a brilliant outing with the ball that ensured their side bundled out Kerala for 167 runs and clinched the game by 47 runs.
In another VHT clash, Tamil Nadu posted a solid total of 288 all out in 49.5 overs against Karnataka. Tamil Nadu’s innings was headlined by a composed half-century from Narayan Jagadeesan, who top-scored with 65 off 67 balls.
Karnataka’s bowling effort was spearheaded by Abhilash Shetty, who was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/48. While chasing 289, half-centuries from Krishnan Shrijith (77), Mayank Agarwal (58) and Shreyas Gopal (55) helped Karnataka steal a four-wicket win.
In another contest between Baroda and Uttar Pradesh, an unbeaten 160* off 101 balls from Dhruv Jurel helped Uttar Pradesh post a colossal 369/7 in their 50 overs. Jurel’s innings was the centrepiece of the innings, featuring a robust partnership with Rinku Singh, who contributed a brisk 63.
While chasing a daunting target of 370 runs, Baroda captain Krunal Pandya’s fighting knock of 82 runs off 77 balls and Shashwat Rawat’s 60 runs off 69 deliveries went in vain as Baroda were bundled out for 315 runs, losing the contest by 54 runs. (ANI)
