Ankit, Rinku fashion UP’s win in Hazare Trophy
LUCKNOW: Opening batter Abhishek Goswami has been a consistent failure for Uttar Pradesh in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. In three matches so far, the Delhi boy could score just 29 runs, including 11 against Tripura in the opening match, three against Himachal Pradesh in the second game, and 15 against Gujarat on Tuesday.
Goswami’s failure with willow and that too at the top order is a big worry for the former champions Uttar Pradesh, who scored an important six-wicket win against Gujarat to notch up their second win in Group A at the Jamia Milia Islamia Ground in Delhi on Tuesday.
Credit for Tuesday’s win goes to experienced batters Rinku Singh, Aksh Deep Nath and Priyam Garg, who played crucial innings to help the side reach home with three overs to spare. After losing Aryan Juyal (8) and Goswami (15) in quick succession, Uttar Pradesh lost skipper Karan Sharma (9) and the side were reduced to 3/58 in the 19th over while chasing 196.
Both Juyal and Goswami offered regulation catches to keeper Het off CT Gaja and A Nagwaswalla, respectively, whereas Sharma was caught by B Merai off Shen Patel, and then a collapse almost looked eminent. But inform left-hand Singh along with former India U-19 skipper at the World Cup, Garg repaired the innings well, stitching together 48 runs for the fourth-wicket. Though Garg departed in the 30th over after being caught by Chirag Gandhi off Piyush Chawla after scoring 59-ball 47 with the help of three boundaries, Singh continued to hammer Gujarat bowlers, especially ex-UP skipper and Team India spinner Chawla, who conceded 45 runs in his nine overs. Singh made sure that no damage should be done further to UP as he along with Aksh Deep Nath (45*, 60b, 4x4) took the side home without being separated. The two added unbeaten 91 runs for the fifth wicket.
In fact, it was lanky pacer Ankit Rajpoot, who set the tone for Uttar Pradesh with a fourwicket haul. Kanpur’s Rajpoot, who was “rejected” for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy last month, was on song on Tuesday, broke Gujarat’s top order with his pace and swing.
Rajpoot first forced opener and skipper PK Panchal (9) for a regulation catch to keeper Juyal in the fourth over before scalping the wicket of fellow opener Kathan D Patel (9) almost in similar fashion in the 12th over. And when he came back in his second spell, he had the prize wicket of B Merai (61, 99b, x4x) and S Chauhan (12). He was equally supported by another pacer Shivam Mavi, who picked 2/36, whereas Aaquib Khan and Saurabh Kumar shared two wickets between them to restrict Gujarat for 195/9 while fielding first after winning the toss.
Uttar Pradesh, who now have eight points and stand at third place behind Saurashtra and Himachal Pradesh (both 8 pts each) now play their fourth league match against Hyderabad on Thursday at the same venue. BRIEF SCORES Gujarat 195/9 (B Merai 61, C Gandhi 37, Het 27, A Rajpoot 4/30, S Mavi 2/36) lost to Uttar Pradesh 197/4 in 47 overs (R Singh 68*, A Nath 47*, P Garg 47, A Nagwaswalla 1/29).
ZONAL CRICKET FINAL
Both hosts Central Zone as well as spirited West Zone will have the opportunity to lift the maiden trophy of the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20 Tournament when the two sides face each other in the (D/N) final on Wednesday, at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here at 4.30 p.m.
In the six-team tournament, Poonam Yadav-led Central Zone won all their matches to top the table with 20 points, whereas West Zone with four wins and 16 points finished second. But now, there is no chance of a comeback for the two sides, and both are expected to give their best in the final.
UP PLAYERS FOR IPL
As many as three Uttar Pradesh cricketers i.e. Shivam Mavi (KKR), Ankit Singh Rajpoot (LSG) and Aryan Juyal (MI) were on Tuesday released by their different franchise for the IPL 2023 season. But other UP players like Kuldeep Yadav (DC), Yash Dayal (GT), Rinku Singh (KKR), Karan Sharma, Mohsin Khan (LSG) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) were retained by their franchise.