Andhra humiliate Delhi in quarters, Saurashtra win

Delhi’s muchvaunted batting line up imploded as unheralded Andhra reached semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a six-wicket victory here on Thursday.

Medium pacer Siva Kumar (4/29 in 10 overs) and left-arm spinner Bharghav Bhatt (3/28 in 7.1 overs) wreaked havoc as Delhi were skittled out for 111 in 32.1 overs.

In reply, Andhra reached the target in 28.4 overs with Ricky Bhui (32) and Ashwin Hebbar (38) scoring bulk of the runs.

Andhra opted to field on a wicket that didn’t have any demons but none of the Delhi batsmen were willing to stay at the crease long enough to put up a substantial score.

Unmukt Chand (4) was bowled by an incoming delivery from Siva while Gambhir (8) gave a simple catch to B Sumath.

Young Hiten Dalal (11) also played across the line to be castled with Delhi reeling at 33 for 3 in 9 overs.

Siva, who bowled at late 120kmph, did nothing exceptional save pitching it up and Delhi batsmen didn’t show requisite application.

Nitish Rana (2) couldn’t get going as he completely missed the line of military medium pace bowler Bandaru Ayappa.

Rishabh Pant (38) and Dhruv Shorey (21) tried to stem the rot with 36-run stand for fifth wicket but inept shot selection saw Delhi lose six wickets for just 35 runs.

ARPIT KEEPS CALM

Young Arpit Vasavada kept his composure during the end overs as his 43-ball-45 enabled a safe passage for Saurashtra into the Vijay Hazare semi-finals beating Baroda by three wickets at the Ferozshah Kotla.

While Maharashtra will play Karnataka in the first semi-final on Saturday, Saurashtra, by virtue of their quarter-final win, will now meet Andhra in the second semi-final on Sunday.

Chasing a target of 248, Saurashtra crossed the finishing line in 48.4 overs courtesy Vasavada and useful contributions up the order from opener Avi Barot (82) and skipper Cheteshwar Pujara (40).