New Delhi, Nov 21 (Cricket News) Saurashtra are set to qualify for the knockout stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after notching up a four-wicket win over Tripura in their penultimate group A match here on Monday.
Chandigarh also stayed on course for a knockout stage berth by beating Himachal Pradesh by five wickets in another group A game.
With five wins and one loss, both Saurashtra and Chandigarh are currently on 20 points with the former grabbing the top spot due to better net run-rate.
Opting to bowl, Saurashtra bundled Tripura out for 133 in 42.1 overs and then overhauled the target in 36.5 overs, losing six wickets in the process.
The pace troika of Jaydev Unadkat (3/21), Chetan Sakariya (2/31) and Prerak Mankad (2/22) shared seven wickets among them as Tripura couldn't find any momentum in their innings.
Chirag Jani, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Parth Bhut also contributed with one wicket each.
Chasing the total, Saurashtra had a disastrous start as medium pacer Rana Dutta rocked the top-order with three quick wickets in his opening spell to leave them tottering at 0 for 3 in the fourth over.
Harvik Desai (29) held one end up for sometime before becoming the fourth victim of Rana.
However, Arpit Vasavada (51 not out) and Parth Bhut (32 not out) took Saurashtra home.
In Jamia Milia Islamia University ground, Himachal Pradesh posted 302 for 8, riding on a superb century from Ekant Sen (116), after being sent in to bat.
Sen hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in his 104-ball innings, while Prashant Chopra (69) cracked a fifty.
However, Chandigarh scripted a sensational chase with Arslan Khan slamming a 104-ball 107 at the top, while Akshit Rana (58) and Gaurav Puri (57) also produced scintillating half-centuries as they romped home with one ball to spare.
In other matches, Uttar Pradesh defeated Manipur by eight wickets to take the third position in the group with 16 points, while Hyderabad beat Gujarat by four wickets at Palam B stadium.
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News Source : PTI
