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The first set of quarterfinals played for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22 on December 21 saw Tamil Nadu winning over arch-rivals Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh coming out on top against Uttar Pradesh.
The two games played in Jaipur saw two unexpected results as many felt Karnataka and UP are favourites to make it through to the semis. But Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh proved them wrong.
In the first game played at the KL Saini Ground in Jaipur, TN absolutely dominated Karnataka, scoring a whopping 354/8 batting first and restricting the opposition down to just 203 in the second half.
N Jagadeesan made a fantastic century (102) to lay a foundation to TN’s gigantic score. Middle-order batters Sai Kishore (61), skipper Dinesh Karthik (44) and Baba Indarjith (31) chipped in with crucial contributions. But in a true sense, what really took the game away from Karnataka’s reach was young Shahrukh Khan’s blistering cameo of 79* from just 39 balls.
Shahrukh, who was TN’s hero for the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 earlier in the season, played another exceptional knock against Karnataka. The young, promising power-hitter struck seven fours and six sixes during his innings to take TN past the 350-mark, which put Karnataka under immense pressure for the run-chase.
KC Cariappa, with figures of 1/46 was the most in-control bowler for Karnataka on the day, although Prasidh Krishna (2/57) and Parveen Dubey (3/67) had more wickets to show for their efforts.
In the run-chase, Karnataka crumbled in the wake of the asking rate, losing wickets at regular intervals as their batters were forced to take undue risks from the very beginning of their innings. Rohan Kadam (24), Krishnamurthy Siddharth (29), Abhinav Manohar (34), Abhinav Manohar (43) and Dubey (26) all got starts, but nobody could play a substantial knock which might have taken the game back to TN.
TN eventually managed to bundle out Karnataka in just 39 overs, with Washington Sundar (3/43) and R Silambarasan (4/36) sharing seven wickets between them.
Brief scores
Tamil Nadu 354/8 in 50 overs (N Jagadeesan 102, Khan 79*; Dubey 3/67) beat Karnataka 203/10 in 39 overs (Sharath 43; R Silambarasan 4/36, Sundar 3/43) by 151 runs
In the other quarterfinal, Himachal Pradesh stamped their authority over UP at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, where they kept the opposition down to just 207/9 in the first half and chased down the modest target with five wickets in the tank.
Vinay Galetiya was the pick of the bowlers for HP with figures of 3/19 off his 10 overs. He was ably supported by Sidharth Sharma (2/27) and Pankaj Jaiswal (2/43), who bagged two wickets apiece.
UP’s top-order failed to come to the party when it mattered the most. They were reduced to 39/4 before Akshdeep Nath (32) and Rinku Singh (76) steadied their ship. Once Nath departed, Singh, who played a fine innings in tough circumstances, was joined by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whose 46 off 52 was needed for UP to cross the 200-mark.
In the second half, HP had their own stutters but eventually reached home, thanks to a watchful 99 from Prashant Chopra and a half-century from Nikhil Gangta (58).
Ankit Rajpoot (2/52) and Shivam Mavi (3/34) got amongst the wickets for UP, but lack of runs on the board meant that UP bowlers were always fighting a lost cause.
Brief scores
Uttar Pradesh 207/9 in 50 overs (Singh 76, Kumar 46; Galetiya 3/19) lost to Himachal Pradesh 208/5 in 45.3 overs (Chopra 99, Gangta 58; Mavi 3/34) by 5 wickets
