On Saturday, Jammu and Kashmir defeated Kerala by a score of seven wickets to eliminate the latter from the Vijay Hazare Trophy competition. As a result of this victory, Jammu and Kashmir advanced to the quarterfinals of the competition.
In-form Auqib Nabi stole the show with his career-best haul of 4/39, which helped J&K skittle out Kerala for a paltry 174 in 47.4 overs after Kerala elected to field in their very first Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout match. The match was played in J&K and Kerala’s first-ever meeting in the knockout stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
In their reply, J&K reached their target with ease in 37.5 overs. Shubham Khajuria (76) and Qamran Iqbal (51) helped set the stage for victory with their 113-run opening stand that lasted for 21.4 overs.
Khajuria, who is now in the best form of his life, scored 61 runs off of 61 balls, including six sixes and five fours; this was his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score this season.
However, he was run out for the second time in a row, which contributed to J&K losing three wickets while only adding 32 runs to their total. However, there was little pressure to win based on the scoreboard, and Henan Nazir and Fazil Rashid won their sixth match of the season out of seven total matches.
As a result of this, J&K will play the team that finished first in group B when they compete in the quarterfinals here on Monday.
As Kerala failed to get going, the J&K pace bowling trio of Nabi, Yudhvir Singh (2/16), and left-arm pacer Mujtaba Yousuf (1/37) accounted for seven hitters.
Vinoop Maoharan, Kerala’s opener, led the team in scoring with 62 runs off 81 balls, but Yudhvir took him out to start the run chase collapse in the 32nd over. After that, Nabi used a dream spell to wreak havoc on the scoreboard.
Both Nabi and Yudhvir have been extremely productive for J&K so far this season, taking 12 wickets between them over the course of seven games.
After chasing down a mammoth 343 run target with only two wickets remaining, the team led by Ajay Sharma was successful in unseating the defending Ranji champions from Madhya Pradesh.
They also won their victories against Baroda, Odisha, and Nagaland with little to no difficulty.
Their lone loss came at the hands of the winners of group D, Punjab, and they ended in second place in the league stage.
Brief Scores Jammu and Kashmir won the match by seven wickets after defeating Kerala by 174 runs (all out) in 47.4 overs (Sijomon Joseph 32, Vinoop Manoharan 62; Auqib Nabi 4/39, Yudhvir Singh 2/16). Kerala’s innings consisted of 174 runs (all out) in 47.4 overs. Sijomon Joseph took two wickets.
In a meaningless encounter before the quarterfinals, Uttar Pradesh cruised to victory by eight wickets, capitalising on the fact that Mumbai did not field its full complement of players. On a great pitch for batting, the UP bowlers held Mumbai to a score that was below par by limiting them to 220 runs all out. The pacers Shivam Mavi (4/41) and Kartik Tyagi (2/43), with able assistance from the left-arm spinner Shiva Singh (2/43), led the way.
Aryan Juyal, who was the keeper-opener and scored 82 runs off 103 balls to anchor the chase, along with Madhav Kaushik, who scored 46 runs off 75 balls, and Karan Sharma, who captained the team, made vital contributions. The chase was an easy win (42 not out off 38 balls).
The victory gave UP a cushion of 26 balls going into the quarterfinal match against Maharashtra, which they will now play.
The flashy opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and the dangerous Sarfaraz Ahmed, both of whom were on India’s team, were not available for Mumbai. A tour of Bangladesh) due to national responsibilities did have an influence, as neither Prithvi Shaw (10) nor skipper Ajinkya Rahane (26 off 39 balls) could make a difference on the important day of the tournament.
While Shaw was cleaned up by Mavi as he tried to play across the line, Rahane drove away from his body in a careless manner to a fuller “fifth off-stump” line delivery from Tyagi. Tyagi bowled a fuller delivery.
After being reduced to 94 for five by arm ball dismissals from spinners Shiva and Shivam Sharma, Mumbai were at one point on the verge of collapse. Arman Jaffer (32) and Suved Parkar (13) were out.
While Suved was run out while attempting to cut a delivery that was close to the wickets, Jaffer batted to the wrong line and became leg before wicket.
However, Mumbai’s crisis man Shams Mulani (51 runs off of 70 balls) and keeper-batter Hardik Tamore (53 runs off of 67 balls) combined 103 runs for the sixth wicket, which assisted the current Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 winners in passing the 200-run barrier.
After Tamore was run out while attempting to hit a second six off Shiva, the next five Mumbai wickets fell for a total of 23 runs with no resistance from the lower order batsmen.
Madhav and Aryan, the openers for UP, scored 119 runs in 25 overs to set the tone for the game. There was little scoreboard pressure on them. Aryan’s companion only managed three fours and a six to his name, but Aryan’s performance was significantly more aggressive with 10 boundaries.
In point of fact, Priyam Garg, who was not out at the time, and skipper Karan contributed 63 runs for an unbroken third wicket stand in little under 12 overs, which allowed them to easily reach their target without any difficulty.