Haryana became the Champions of the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time as they defeated Rajasthan played at SCA Stadium, Rajkot on 16th December 2023.
Haryana captain Ashok Menaria won the toss and decided to bat first. It was not an ideal start for Haryana as Yuvraj Singh was dismissed cheaply by Arafat Khan. Yuvraj Singh showed intent with some lovely shots putting pressure on the Rajasthan bowlers. Aniket Choudhary shattered the stumps of Himanshu Rana. Rana and Ankit Kumar added 38 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Ankit Kumar and captain Ashok Menaria put pressure back on the Rajasthan bowlers taking singles and hitting boundaries keeping the scoreboard ticking. Kumar completed fifty off 44 deliveries while Menaria reached fifty off 74 balls. It was a superb batting partnership that kept Haryana on the front foot. Chaudhary struck to dismiss Ankit Kumar. Ankit Kumar and Menaria added 124 runs for 3rd wicket.
Haryana captain Menaria fell in quick succession to give Rajasthan a chance to stem the run flow. Nishant Sandhu and Rohit Sharma steadied the ship with some lovely shots putting pressure back on Rajasthan bowlers. Sandhu and Rohit added 46 runs for the 5th wicket.
Rahul Tewaita and Sumar Kumar added another valuable partnership putting on 35 runs for the 7th wicket. Haryana posted 282 for 7 at the end of 50 overs. For Rajasthan, Aniket Choudhary grabbed 4 for 49 in 10 overs.
Chasing 283 runs to win, Sumit Kumar broke the backbone of Rajasthan’s top order getting wickets of Ram Chahuan, Mahipal Lomror and Deepak Hooda. It was a superb bowling effort by Sumit to show his class. At the end of 10 overs, Rajasthan made just 36 for 3.
Karan Lamba and Abhijeet Tomar steadied the ship for Rajasthan taking singles and hitting boundaries to put pressure on Haryana bowlers. Tewaita struck to dismiss Karan Lamba ending 68 runs partnership for the 4th wicket. Abhijeet Tomar and Kunal Singh Rathore played with intent putting pressure on Haryana bowlers.
Tomar completed his fifty off 70 deliveries keeping calm along with Rathore. Tomar and Rathore kept taking singles and rotated the strike giving some hopes of Rajasthan winning. Tomar completed his century off 121 balls while Rathore reached a half-century off 45 deliveries.
Harshal Patel got the much-needed breakthrough dismissing centurion Tomar. Tomar and Rathore added 121 runs for 5th wicket. It was one-way traffic as Haryana bowlers kept picking wickets skittling out Rajasthan for 257 in 48.1 overs. Haryana won the Vijay Hazare Trophy title for the first time by 30 runs. For his unbeaten 28 off 16 deliveries and 3 for 34, Sumit Kumar was named player of the match. He was named the player of the series with 183 runs and grabbing 18 wickets.
Haryana’s performance in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023
Haryana had a memorable outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this edition. Haryana finished top of the points table in the league stage with 7 out of 7 wins qualifying directly for the quarterfinals.
Haryana stunned Bengal in the first quarterfinals by 4 wickets on 11th December. After restricting Bengal to just 225, Haryana chased down the target with 29 balls to spare and 4 wickets remaining.
They stunned heavyweights of domestic cricket Tamil Nadu in the first semi-finals on 13th December 2023. After scoring 293, Haryana bowled out TN for 230.
Harshal Patel finished as the leading wicket-taker for Haryana with 19 wickets from 10 matches (10 innings) at an economy of 5.41 runs per over including best figures of 5 for 24. Yuzvendra Chahal also contributed to the team’s success with 18 wickets from 8 matches including best figures of 3.70 runs per over with best figures of 6 for 26.
Ankit Kumar scored the most runs in the tournament with 453 runs from 10 matches (10 innings) including 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries to his name. He registered his best score of 115 during the tournament.
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