Impressive Uttar Pradesh throttle Gujarat to enter Vijay Hazare Trophy final

A thoroughly professional all-round effort saw Uttar Pradesh defeat Gujarat by five wickets in the first semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Asked to bowl first after losing the toss, Uttar Pradesh restricted Gujarat to 184 in 48.1 overs. Yash Dayal stood out with figures of 3 for 34 while Aaqib Khan claimed 2 for 22 in his 10 overs.

Uttar Pradesh’s chase was led by a mature half-century from Akshdeep Nath. He scored 71 off 104 balls as UP eased to victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final.

The chasing side were in trouble at 45 for 3 as Madhav Kaushik, Samarth Singh and Priyam Garg fell cheaply. However, a fourth-wicket stand of 89 between Nath and UP skipper Karan Sharma (38) put Gujarat out of the contest.

Sharma made a sedate 38 off 63 balls before being stumped off Karan Patel. Nath was more authoritative and hit eight fours in his match-winning knock.

By the time he was caught behind off Piyush Chawla, only the formalities needed to be completed.

Uttar Pradesh enter final! 👍👍The Karan Sharma-led side secured a five-wicket win over Gujarat in the #SF1 of the @Paytm #VijayHazareTrophy and sealed a place in the final. 👌👌 #GUJvUP Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/eCrzvuDrvV pic.twitter.com/TISFULEMHY

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 11, 2021

Upendra Yadav guided the side home with an unbeaten 31 from 25. He slammed Chawla for a six and a four in the 43rd over to put UP in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final in emphatic fashion.

Bowlers shine as Gujarat are held to 184 in Vijay Hazare Trophy semis

Gujarat were all out for 184 after winning the toss and deciding to bat first in the first semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Het Patel top-scored with 60 and Chawla contributed 32, but the rest of the batting line-up faltered.

Gujarat were dealt a body blow early in the innings. Skipper Priyank Panchal mistimed a pull off Yash Dayal straight up in the air and was out for 2.

Rahul Shah (10) perished to one of three run outs in the innings. He set off for a single to mid-off that was never there.

Opener Dhruv Raval was looking good on 23 when he was cleaned up by Shivam Sharma from one that spun back in sharply. The two Patels - Karan and Ripal - also perished cheaply to leave Gujarat reeling at 92 for 5 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final encounter.

A sixth-wicket stand of 66 between Het Patel and Chawla gave Gujarat's innings a sense of respectability. Het Patel played a dogged knock as he brought up a half-century.

Chawla was aggressive, hitting Shivam Sharma for a six over deep midwicket. The partnership was broken when Chawla edged a good length delivery from Dayal to the keeper.

5⃣0⃣-up for Aksh Deep Nath!👍👍He and Karan Sharma take Uttar Pradesh past 130 in the chase. @Paytm #VijayHazareTrophy #SF1 #GUJvUP Follow the match 👉 https://t.co/eCrzvuDrvV pic.twitter.com/wvrHxyR340

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 11, 2021

At the other end, Het Patel, who was beginning to find the boundaries consistently, also perished in the same over. He was run out for 60, trying to get a single to mid-off.

The last three wickets fell without contributing too much - Arzan Nagwaswalla becoming the third run-out victim in the Gujarat innings - which summed up their misery in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final.