Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk:Hyderabad and Saurashtra on Wednesday stormed into the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy from Group ‘D’.
Saurashtra trounced Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha by eight wickets for a hat-trick of wins, helping them seal a quarterfinal berth in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday. Saurashtra edged out Vidarbha on a better net run-rate for the second spot as it was heartbreak for the reigning Ranji champions who were leading the group with four successive wins before back-to-back defeats knocked them out of the competition.
Hosts Hyderbad rode on pacer Mohammed Siraj’s 5/37 to hammer Chhattisgarh by 84 runs and join Saurashtra in the last eight as Group D toppers. At the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad, Hyderabad overcame a jittery start to post a challenging 280/8. In reply, Chhattisgarh were bundled out for 196 in 44.3 overs with Siraj returning with his second List A five-wicket haul, while left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan claimed 2/28.
Earlier, Andhra and Mumbai posted wins over Gujarat and Goa on Monday to qualify for the national knockout phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy from Group ‘C’.
Baroda and Delhi from Group ‘A’ and ‘B’, look all set to qualify as both the teams are comfortably placed at the top in their respective groups with one match to go.
Karnataka and Railways from Group A will lock horns on 16th February to seal a birth in the quarters, while in Group ‘B’ Maharashtra, Kerala and Himachal with two matches to go will be fight it out for the 8th spot.
