Lalit Yadav led the lower middle-order fightback with an unbeaten half-century before spinners joined the party as Delhi managed to upstage Punjab by five runs in a group B match of the Vijay Hazare trophy in Vadodara on Monday.

Coming into bat at 115/5, Yadav emerged as the top-scorer for Delhi with an unbeaten 53-ball 54 as he steered the team to a respectable 220/8 in their stipulated 50 overs. Skipper Dhruv Shorey (46), Nitish Rana (39) and Himmat Singh (33) also contributed with the bat for Delhi.

Chasing the total, Anmolpreet Singh (73) kept Punjab in the hunt but they failed to weave partnerships and eventually managed 215/9. Navdeep Saini rocked the top order, removing both the openers Abhishek Sharma (36) and Sanvir Singh (1) before the spin trioka of Pawan Negi (2/40), Nitish Rana (2/34) and Lalit Yadav (2/22) produced regular breakthroughs to derail Punjab’s chase.

Manan Sharma (1/38) also picked up one wicket. Earlier, Siddarth Kaul (5/48) produced a superb five-wicket haul as he removed both the openers – Shikhar Dhawan (10) and K Bidhuri (8) and then returned to dismiss three more lower-order batsmen. M Markande (2/36) and Sandeep Sharma (1/50) also accounted for two and one wicket respectively.

In another match, Uttar Pradesh notched up a 109-run win over Vidarbha, riding on a superb ton by Priyam Garg (120) and a six-wicket haul by Saurabh Kumar (6/25).

Electing to bat, Uttar Pradesh posted 211 all out, built around a 158-ball century by Garg which was studded with nine boundaries and four sixes. Shivam Mavi (20) was the only other batsman to get into double figures as the rest failed to provide any resistance. Chasing the target, Vidarbha were completely bamboozled by left-arm spinner Saurabh with just three of their batsmen reaching double figures.

Meanwhile, Baroda eked out a two-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh in a low-scoring match.
Put into bat, HP were bundled out for a paltry 161 in 44 overs with Baroda bowlers – Bhargav Bhatt (3/24) and Ninad Rathva (3/33) snapping three wickets each.

Baroda then returned to overhaul the target, scoring 165 for 8 in 34.5 overs, built around an unbeaten 85-ball 66 by Swapnil Singh.

Vinay Kumar shines

Veteran seamer R Vinay Kumar bagged a match-winning four-wicket haul as Puducherry thrashed Manipur by nine wickets to return to the top of the Plate Group table.

Vinay Kumar (4/21) rattled the top-order in a triple burst to reduce Manipur to 19/4 in 7.1 overs but skipper Priyojit Singh provided some resistance with an unbeaten 44. Singh, however, lacked support at the other end as they were bundled out for 109 in 30.1 overs with left-arm spinner Sagar Udeshi returning with 3/26.

In reply, opener Arun Karthik steered the team home, slamming an unbeaten 67 from 43 balls with six fours and four sixes as Puducherry sealed the issue in 16.1 overs. The win took Puducherry to the top spot with 28 points from eight matches. They will next face Assam in their concluding league match on October 17.

Brief Scores:

Delhi 220/8 in 50 overs (Lalit Yadav 54; S Kaul 5/48) beat Punjab 215/9 in 50 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 73; Lalit Yadav 2/22) by five runs.

Uttar Pradesh 211 in 49 overs (PK Garg 120; AK Karnewar 3/38) beat Vidarbha 102 in 31.3 overs (DG Nalkande 26; Saurabh Kumar 6/25) by 109 runs.

Himachal Pradesh 161 in 44 overs (N Gangta 46; BA Bhatt 3/24) lose to Baroda 165/8 in 34.5 overs (Swapnil Singh 66; AS Bedi 3/43).