Himachal Pradesh smashed 99 runs scored by Prashant Chopra to reach the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday, beating Uttar Pradesh by five wickets. At first, despite a 76 by Rinku Singh, UP could only manage 207/9 as Himachal’s bowlers, led by pacer Vinay Galatea (3/19), broke through the opposition line-up.
Then, a sublime innings from Chopra and a quick 58 from Nikhil Gangta saw Himachal chasing a total with 27 balls to spare.
Walked out to bat at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, UP rebounded at 39/4 as Galatea (3/19) wreaked havoc on their top-order.
Fast bowler Siddharth Sharma got his first breakthrough when he dismissed opener Abhishek Goswami (17) in the 8th over.
Hamirpur-born Gelatea took UP further in the 9th over by dismissing Aryan Juyal (9) and captain Karan Sharma (0). It turns 39/4 as Galatea dismissed Sameer Rizvi (5).
Akshdeep Nath (32) and Rinku, who came at number six, rebuilt the innings by sharing 64 runs for the fifth wicket.
But just when it looked like the pair would score big, Siddharth Sharma (2/27) dismissed Nath as UP lost their half with just 103 runs on the board.
Rinku hit six fours in his 102-ball knock, and with Bhuvneshwar (46 off 52 balls), adding 75 runs for the sixth wicket, gave his bowlers something to defend.
Chasing 208 runs, Himachal openers Shubham Arora (19) and Chopra gave the team a quiet start and added 54 runs for the first wicket in 17.2 overs.
Without the pressure of the scoreboard, both the openers hit the odd boundary and headed towards the target.
However, young pacer Shivam Mavi (3/34) broke the partnership by dismissing Arora.
Then Gangta joined Chopra and the two put on 122 runs for the second wicket, taking the game away from UP.
While Chopra’s innings hit 10 fours and two sixes, Gangta hit five fours and three sixes to propel Himachal towards the target.
UP paceman Ankit Rajput (2/52) struck twice in the 38th over, dismissing Gangta and skipper Rishi Dhawan (0) to bring his side back into contention.
As the 29-year-old opener, Mavi removed Chopra by one run. Mavi sends back Sumeet Verma (3) but Amit Kumar (14 not out) sees the team home in company.
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Brief Scores:UP 207/9 (Rinku Singh 76, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 46; Vinay Galatea 3/19, Siddharth Sharma 2/27) lost to Himachal Pradesh 208/5 (Prashant Chopra 99, Nikhil Gangta 58; Shivam Mavi 3/34) by five wickets went. ,
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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