Vijay Hazare Trophy: TN, Chhattisgarh through to semis; Mumbai exit despite Jaiswal’s heroics

Rain ended Mumbai’s Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign at Bengaluru on Monday as Chhattisgarh made it to the semi-finals on the basis of more wins against their quarter-final opponents in the league phase.

Tamil Nadu also reached the semi-finals on the basis of more wins than Punjab in the league stage after their quarter-final game was cut short by rain. Tamil Nadu had won nine out of nine matches in Group C, while Chhattisgarh emerged victorious in five out of eight games in Group A. Mumbai won four.

While Tamil Nadu will take on Gujarat in the semi-finals on Wednesday, hosts Karnataka will face Chhattisgarh. In pursuit of a revised target of 195 from 39 overs, Mumbai were cruising at 95 for no loss in 11.3 overs with young star Yashasvi Jaiswal batting on 60 (38 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) and Aditya Tare on 31.

However, the skies opened up and the match was abandoned, ending Mumbai’s topsy-turvy campaign. As per rules, Mumbai needed to bat a minimum of 20 overs to get a result in this game. But as the game was abandoned, Chhattisgarh qualified.

Put into bat at the Alur cricket stadium III, Mumbai bowlers did well to restrict Chhattisgarh to 190/6 in 45.4 overs when play was halted due to rain. Experienced medium-pacer Dhawal Kulkarni sent Chhattisgarh opener Jiwanjyot Singh Chauhan (0) back after he edged to keeper Tare.

Shardul Thakur got rid off Shashank Chandrakar to leave Chhattisgarh in trouble at 3/2. Ashutosh Pratap Singh (27), who came in at one drop, was unable to convert his start as Chhattisgarh slipped to 40/3.

Skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia (83) and Amandeep Khare (59*) led the recovery with a 135-run stand for the fourth wicket. Bhatia hit four boundaries and as many sixes in his 108-ball knock, while Khare hit four fours and a six.

However, when it looked like the duo was taking the game away from Mumbai, all-rounder Shubham Ranjane dismissed Bhatia and Chhattisgarh. But their splendid bowling effort eventually went in vain.

In the other last eight game, Punjab restricted Tamil Nadu to 174/6 in 39 overs when rain stopped play. Tamil Nadu had a shaky start after openers Murali Vijay (22) and Abhinav Mukund (17) failed to convert starts.

But the in-form Baba Aparajith came up with a patient 76-ball 56 (2 fours, 2 sixes) to pull his side out of trouble. He lacked support as all-rounder Vijay Shankar (13) and skipper Dinesh Karthik (11) didn’t last long enough.

Thanks to Washington Sundar’s unbeaten 35 off 39 balls, Tamil Nadu breached the 170-run mark. Punjab were 52/2 in 12.2 overs, having lost opener Abhishek Sharma (6) and Anmolpreet Singh (9) when rain stopped play. The game was eventually called off.

Brief scores: Chhattisgarh 190/6 in 45.4 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 83, Amandeep Khare 59 not out, Dhawal Kulkarni 2 for 9) vs Mumbai 95/0 in 11.3 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 60*, Aditya Tare 31*). Tamil Nadu 174/6 in 39 overs (Baba Aparajith 56, Washington Sundar 35*, Gurkeerat Singh 2/25) versus Punjab 52/2 in 12.2 overs.