Vijay Hazare Trophy round-up: Yuvraj Singh's 56 guides Punjab into the semis; Manish Pandey continues his rich vein of form

Yuvraj Singh’s half-century helps Punjab progress in the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who is still harbouring ambitions of making it to the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup in Australia & New Zealand, answered his critics in emphatic fashion by starring in a 75-run 4th wicket partnership with Gurkeerat Mann Singh. thereby sending Punjab into the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Chasing 244 for victory against Railways, Harbhajan Singh’s men got off to an ideal start, courtesy of a 57-run opening stand between Amitoze Singh (43) and Manan Vohra (32). Vohra’s wicket brought Mandeep Singh to the crease alongside Amitoze, and the duo put on a 53-run partnership for the second wicket before the latter was dismissed, quickly followed by Mandeep.

At 3/131, Punjab were in a slightly dicey position, but mature knocks from Yuvraj and Gurkeerat ensured no further trouble as Punjab got home with 5 wickets and more than a couple of overs to spare.

Gurkeerat remained unbeaten on 56 off 54 deliveries as Yuvraj fell to medium-pacer Amit Mishra with the target at striking distance. Earlier, Railways, after being inserted into bat, scored 243/9 from their 50 overs, courtesy largely a patient 76 from No.3 batsman Anustup Majumdar.

Right-arm medium pacer Baltej Singh, who finished up with figures of 10-1-33-5, was the pick of the bowlers from Punjab’s perspective, ably supported by Sandeep Sharma’s 2/51 from his 10 overs.

Manish Pandey’s rich vein of form continues

In another game, Manish Pandey played yet another valuable innings of 99* which enabled Karnataka to overcome a stiff target of 287 against Mumbai. Pandey has been in sublime form in the tournament, smashing his fifth consecutive 50+ score, giving him a tournament aggregate of 400 runs at an average of 200. Notably, the right-hander blasted an unbeaten 135 against the visiting Sri Lankans in a warm-up game recently.

Opting to field first, Karnataka witnessed opposition captain Suryakumar Yadav (67 off 81) and Shreyas Iyer (77 off 67) rescue the innings from a precarious 59/3. Some quick runs towards the end from the likes of Aditya Tare, Abhishek Nayar and Shardul Thakur gave Mumbai the much needed acceleration, thereby enabling them to post 286/8 from their 50 overs.

In reply, Robin Uthappa’s 43 set the base for Pandey and Stuart Binny (58 from 67) to take the game forward. However, a win would not have been possible but for Karun Nair’s late cameo of 32 from just 23 deliveries.

The two semi-finals, which are scheduled for Sunday, see Karnataka taking on Bengal and Punjab facing Odisha, with the winners progressing through to the final on Tuesday.