New Delhi: Half-centuries from Virat Kohli and captain Rishabh Pant, backed by a fiery bowling spell from young pacer Prince Yadav, helped Delhi register a thrilling seven-run victory over Gujarat in an Elite Group D match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the COE ground on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Friday. The win marked Delhi’s second consecutive victory in the tournament.
Asked to bat first, Delhi posted a competitive 254 for 9 in 50 overs. Kohli led the charge with a fluent 77 off 61 balls (13 fours, 1 six), while Pant anchored the innings with a composed 70 off 79 balls (8 fours, 2 sixes). Kohli added 72 runs for the second wicket with Arpit Rana, while Pant stitched a crucial 73-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Harsh Tyagi (40). Gujarat spinner Vishal Jaiswal starred with the ball, claiming 4 for 42, while Ravi Bishnoi picked up two wickets.
In reply, Gujarat were bowled out for 247 in 47.4 overs despite fighting knocks from Aryan Desai (57), S.D. Chauhan (49) and Urvil Patel (31). Delhi’s bowling unit delivered under pressure, with Prince Yadav (3/37), Ishant Sharma (2/28) and Arpit Rana (2/39) sharing eight wickets. Key breakthroughs in the death overs sealed a narrow but memorable win for Delhi.
Other Matches:
In Elite Group C, Mumbai defeated Uttarakhand by 51 runs despite Rohit Sharma’s duck, riding on an unbeaten 92 by Hardik Tamore and half-centuries from Mushir Khan and Sarfaraz Khan.
In Elite Group B, Uttar Pradesh crushed Chandigarh by 227 runs on the back of centuries from Rinku Singh (107) and Aryan Juyal (134). Meanwhile, Vidarbha beat Hyderabad by 89 runs, powered by *Dhruv Shorey’s fifth consecutive List A century (106)**, equalling a national record.
