Akshdeep lets his willow do talking in UP’s big win
It was a perfect reply to his critics as Nath scores unbeaten half-century to help UP win first match
LUCKNOW:Just before the start of the domestic season, Uttar Pradesh’s regular skipper Akshdeep Nath was shown the door from the responsibility in a ‘controversial manner’. The only left for the Lucknow boy was to shut the mouths of his critics by let his allround show continue to help the side win.
On Monday, Nath let his bat do the talking, smashing a fine unbeaten half-century to fashion former champions Uttar Pradesh’s emphatic seven-wicket win against hosts Baroda to help team notch up their first win in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, at the Motibaug Cricket Ground in Vadodara.
Nath struck nine boundaries in his 107-ball 75 as Uttar Pradesh romped home in 47.4 overs while chasing 213 in 50 overs. Nath along with skipper Samarth Singh added 81-run for the third wicket before Singh offering a straight catch to Aditya Waghmode off A Sheth after scoring 79-ball 61, which contained five hits to the fence and one over it.
With all their first four matches being abandoned due to rain in the Group B, a win in the Monday’s match was a must for Uttar Pradesh, which had shared the winners’ trophy in 2004-05 with Tamil Nadu.
India A batsman Aryan Juyal (20, 29b, 2x4) was trapped leg before wicket by LI Meriwala in the ninth over of the game, But thereafter, Singh along with stylish Priyam Garg (28, 38b, 3x4, 1x6) held the innings together, adding 49 runs for the second wicket.
But as soon as Nath joined Singh in the middle, the complexion of the game was changed all of sudden as the two stroked the ball nicely around the ground. Even the Samarth’s departure didn’t make a difference as Nath along with aggressive left-hander Rinku Singh (23*, 38b, 2x4) sailed the team home without being separated.
Earlier, the seam bowling duo of Ankit Rajpoot and Shivam Mavi put Baroda batsmen in tight check before restricting them 212/6. Rajpoot first had both the openers Kedar Devdhar (4) and Aditya Waghmode (1) in quick succession and then trapped Deepak Jagbir Hooda (3) leg before wicket to leave Baroda reeling at 3/16 in 6.3 overs.
Swanil K Singh (31, 65b, 4x4) along with Vishnu Solanki and Team India discard Yusuf Pathan tried to adorn the innings, but to no avail. Solanki top scored with 58, which came off 108 balls with the help of four fours and a six, whereas Pathan made 74-ball 55, which contained seven hits to the fence and two sixes. Both remained the victims of Shivam Mavi’s perfect in-cutters. Abhimanyu Singh remained unbeaten at 23 with two fours.
Rajpoot finished with 3/43, whereas Mavi bagged 2/56. Ankit Choudhary had 1/26.
Now, Uttar Pradesh, which have 12 points from five matches, meet Delhi in the sixth round match on Tuesday. BRIEF SCORES
Baroda 212/6 in 50 overs (V Solanki 58, SK Singh 31, Y Pathan 55, A Rajpoot 3/43, S Mavi2/56) lost to Uttar Pradesh 213/3 in 47.4 overs (S Singh 62, A Nath 75*, R Singh 23*)
GUPTA SELECTED
Lucknow’s Jai Prakash Gupta has been selected in the 15-member UP team to play against Rajasthan in the three-day Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, starting Friday at Meerut. Other members of the teams are: Deepak Rana, Rao Abdul Wahid, Amaan, Aryan Chaudhary, Dhanjay Yadav, Shubhankar Shukla, Aaradhya Yadav (captain), Nishant Thakur, Yash Chaudhary, Parv Singh, Ayushman Singh, Jeetu Kashyap, Kishan Kumar Singh and Shivam Ujjwal. Coach: Musi Raza; Manager: Deepankar Malviya.