Ghaziabad’s Swastik stars in UP’s second win
LUCKNOW : Young batter Swastik smashed a responsible halfcentury to help defending champions Uttar Pradesh continue their winning streak in the Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy One-Day, scoring 27-run win against Chhattisgarh (through VJD method) at Mohali on Wednesday.
After carving out a fascinating 108-run win in their opening match of Elite Group A against Odisha on Tuesday, this was Uttar Pradesh’s second win in as many as matches.
In reply to UP’s 217/9 in 50 overs, Chhattisgarh were 106/5 in 27.4 overs when rain stopped play on Wednesday, at the IS Bindra Cricket Stadium.
Uttar Pradesh were reeling at 4/66 in the 24.5 overs with all the key batters, including skipper Aaradhya Yadav (14) already back to the pavilion while batting first after winning the toss..
But Ghaziabad’s Swastik didn’t lose his confidence and kept building the innings well, adding 94-run for the fifthwicket with Siddharth Yadav.
Swastik’s 71-ball 81, which contained 10 fours and a six brought UP’s confidence back as Yadav’s 36 in 57 balls with three furs and Nirdesh Baisoya’s 20-ball 23 with four hits to the fence helped the side cross 200run mark.
The target wasn’t big enough for Chhattisgarh on a surface like this where ball was coming at the right pace and height, but both pacers Vasu Vats (2/16) and Vijay Kumar (2/22) hit the right length and left Chhattisgarh struggling at 4/17 in just 5.5 overs.
Vasu had both Digvijay Patel and Arin Dwivedi on duck while bringing the ball in, whereas Vijay got opener Sjobhit Sharma (2) and Mayank Yadav (0). Opener Ashish Kumar Dahariya (64, 76b, 6x4, 2x6) was the last man to go after being caught and bowled by Lucknow’s Vipraj Nigam before the rain stopped play.
Now, Uttar Pradesh play their next match against Bihar at the same venue on Friday before taking on Andhra on Saturday and Delhi on Monday in their last league match.
WOMEN’S CRICKET
Uttar Pradesh will begin their campaign in the Women’s Under-19 One-Day Trophy, taking on Vidarbha in their opening match of the Elite Group A, at the Saurashtra Cricket association Stadium Ground B in Rajkot on Thursday. They would take on Assam on Friday, Gujarat on Saturday and Hyderabad on Sunday before playing their last league match against Mumbai on Monday.
DAHIYA TO COACH
Cricket Advisory Committee of the UP Cricket Association on Wednesday appointed former India wicket Keeper Vijay Dahiya as chief coach of ÜP senior team for the year 2021-22. Delhi’s Dahiya has played 19 ODIs and two Test matches and was the coach of the Delhi team as well. Dahiya will assume his charge for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Championship shortly, states a release..