Raina strikes half-century, but UP lose again
LUCKNOW : Yet another half-century by skipper Suresh Raina went in vain as former joint winners Uttar Pradesh went down fighting to Kerala by one run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy oneday tie in New Delhi on Thursday.
This was UP’s fourth loss in as many as seven matches. With eight points so far, including four from two abandoned ties, UP now stand on 13th position in the joint pool table of Elite Group A and B among a total of 18 teams.
Raina, who smashed 69-ball 66 with the help of four boundaries and three sixes, couldn’t save the side from defeat as Uttar Pradesh got out for 227 in 49.5 overs while chasing 229 to win. Raina added 51-run for the fourth-wicket with his deputy Akshdeep Nath (21, 37b, 1x4).
With Uttar Pradesh reeling at 199/8 in 44.5 overs, Rinku Singh (33, 38b, 2x4) and Ankit Rajpoot (13*, 16b, 1x4) raised some hopes in the slog overs, stitching together 22-run for the ninth wicket, but soon after Rinku’s departure with 10 balls to spare, it was all-over in the penultimate ball when Akshay Chandran had Yash Dayal (3) caught by KB Arun Karthick.
Jalaj Saxena, Akshay and Vinoop Sheela Manoharan shared six wickets between them.
Earlier, after being sent to bat first Kerala made full use of the placid turf at the Airforce Complex Ground scoring 228 in 50 overs. Openers Vishnu Vinod (31, 41b, 4x4, 1x6) and Jalaj Saxena (36, 51b, 5x4, 1x6) added 50 runs for the opening wicket.
VA Jagadeesh struck 101-ball 82 with the help of eight fours, whereas Salman Nizar made 43 in 72 balls with the help of two fours as Kerala made 228. Leftarm orthodox spinner Saurabh Kumar took three for 31.
Now, UP play their last league match against Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
THIS WAS UP’S FOURTH LOSS IN AS MANY AS SEVEN MATCHES. WITH EIGHT POINTS SO FAR, INCLUDING FOUR FROM TWO ABANDONED TIES, UP NOW STAND ON 13TH POSITION IN THE JOINT POOL TABLE OF ELITE GROUP A AND B AMONG A TOTAL OF 18 TEAMS
BRIEF SCORES
Kerala 228 in 50 overs (VA Jagdeesh 82, Salman Nizar 43, S Kumar 3/31) beat UP 227 in 49.5 overs (S Raina 66, S Singh 42, R Singh 33, J Saxena 2/31, Akshay KC 2/38, VS Manoharan 2/38).
MANKAD TROPHY
For the last many years, Uttar Pradesh has been playing poor cricket at the senior level, including all formats of the game in domestic cricket.
But the only brighter spot in the state cricket has been the performance of junior cricketers.
For the last three seasons Uttar Pradesh’s under-19 squad in the Vinoo Mankad one-day league has been doing well, emerging champions in Central Zone in 2015 and 2016 before finishing runners-up in 2017. The upcoming season, which begins on Friday at Surat, will again have the group system instead of zonal system.
In the nine-team Elite Group A, Uttar Pradesh would begin their campaign against Assam on Saturday, before playing against Maharashtra on the next day.
This will be followed by a match against Madhya Pradesh on October 10, match against Gujarat on October 12, match against Jharkhand on October 16, match against Karnataka on October 18, match against Mumbai on October 22 before playing their last match against Bengal on October 24.