Vijay Hazare Trophy
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
2018: Mumbai beat Delhi to the title
Manuja Veerappa, Mumbai emerge Hazare champs, October 21, 2018: The Times of India
The one thing that separated Mumbai from other teams in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was teamwork. The Shreyas Iyerled side has played like a champion unit, banking on collective effort rather than individual brilliance. Team work once again held them in good stead at the M Chinnaswamy stadium as they beat Delhi by four wickets to claim the limited-overs crown.
After a top-order collapse saw them reduced to 40/4 in the eighth over, Aditya Tare (71; 89b, 13x4, 1x6) and Siddesh Lad (48; 68b, 4x4, 2x6) helped Mumbai cruise past the finish line in 35 overs.
Electing to field, Mumbai restricted Delhi to 177/9 in 45.4 overs, thanks to the pace trio of Dhawal Kulkarni (3/ 30), Tushar Deshpande (2/ 30) and Shivam Dube (3/29).
A target of 178 for a starstudded Mumbai line-up seemed like a cakewalk and they started with Prithivi Shaw punching the first two deliveries of Navdeep Saini to the fence. But Shaw soon misread a length delivery from Saini and the ball crashed into his off-stump.
With the new ball aiding the pacers, Ajinkya Rahane was beaten by Saini and was trapped in front. Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir set an attacking field and that paid off as Surya Kumar Yadav slashed at a wide delivery from Saini to offer a catch to Nitish Rana at second slip.
With skipper Iyer also back in the hut, the onus was on Tare and Lad -- who had not got much time in the middle throughout the tournament -- to step up. The duo counter-attacked, making good of the lifelines gifted by the opposition. Lad was caught off a no-ball when on zero, a catch was grassed and an appeal for a run-out went in Mumbai’s favour. But Mumbai needed no further help as they coasted home to complement the fine work of their bowlers in the morning.
Brief Scores: Delhi 177/9 in 45.4 overs (Himmat Singh 41, Dhruv Shorey 31, Subodh Bhati 25; Sivam Dube 3-29, Dhawal Kulkarni 3-30, Tushar Deshpande 2-30) lost to Mumbai 180/6 in 35 overs (Aditya Tare 71, Siddesh Lad 48; Navdeep Saini 3-53)
2025
Karnataka wins
January 19, 2025: The Times of India
Karnataka’s winning mantra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season has been quite simple. One player or the other has raised his hand at crucial junctures to play an important role in the victory march. On Saturday against Vidarbha in the all important final, it was R Smaran whose century helped Karnataka emerge victorious by 36 runs to claim their fifth Hazare title.
However, it was not only about Smaran (101; 92b, 7x4, 3x6) at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. The likes of KL Shrijith (78, 74b, 9x4, 1x6) and Abhinav Manohar (79, 42b, 10x4, 4x6) were also brilliant in powering their team to 348/6 in 50 overs.
Vidarbha, who came into the titledecider without losing a game, fell short despite Dhruv Shorey’s ton (110; 111b, 8x4, 2x6). Allrounder Harsh Dubey threatened to steal the game at the death with his big hits, but his 30-ball 63 (5x4, 5x6) did not prove to be enough. They were bowled out for 312 with pace trio of Prasidh Krishna, Abhilash Shetty and V Koushik scalping three wickets each.
Karnataka, who were asked to bat, might have never lost in the final of the competition, but they were staring down the barrel at 67/3 after Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal and KV Aneesh were back in the pavilion by the 15th over.
Wicketkeeper batter Shrijith and Smaran steadied the ship with singles and an occasional boundary to start with before the two southpaws opened up, especially after the 26th over. Scores: Karnataka 348/6 in 50 overs (Smaran R 101, Shrijith 78, Manohar 79) bt Vidarbha 312 in 48.2 overs (Shorey 110, Dubey 63; Prasidh Krishna 3-84) by 36 runs.
