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Gujarat put up a superb performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final, beating Andhra Pradesh by 117 runs on Monday.
Skipper Priyank Panchal’s 134 took Gujarat to a commendable 299/7, but they still had work to do on a pitch where a 300 target was just about par. Arzan Nagwaswalla’s opening spell then broke Andhra’s backs from which they never recovered. Gujarat took wickets at regular intervals to bowl their opponents out inside 42 overs.
Brief Scores Gujarat 299/7 (Priyank Panchal 134, Rahul V Shah 36; Harishankar Reddy 3/60, Lalith Mohan 2/55) beat Andhra 182 all out (Ricky Bhui 67, Naren Reddy 28; Arzan Nagwaswalla 4/28, Piyush Chawla 3/33) by 117 runs.
Gujarat’s late flurry while batting gave them the momentum heading into the innings break, and the side made full use of it as they started their defense.
Arzan Nagwaswalla handed Gujarat the early breakthrough, trapping CR Gnaneshwar in the second over of the game. He got Ashwin Hebbar with an in-swinger in his next over and then made it three wickets in three overs by scalping Hanuma Vihari.
The dangerous Vihari departed for a duck after failing to keep his shot down to the third man. The free fall continued for Andhra after the drinks break, as Gujarat kept taking wickets at regular intervals.
21/3 became 58/5 in no time as Hardik and Karan Patel joined in the act. With Ricky Bhui and Naren Reddy at the crease, the duo began Andhra’s rebuilding job. Bhui was particularly impressive, with the batsman counter-attacking against Piyush Chawla and Karan Patel. Bhui brought his fifty up with a six in the 24th over, but the duo’s 61 partnership came to an end a few balls later.
Arzan Nagwaswalla got the breakthrough once again, coming back in the middle overs to pick up Naren Reddy’s wicket straight away. Ricky Bhui departed a few overs later in a double blow.
With Andhra seven down, Gujarat pressed home their advantage to stop the flow of runs. Just 43 runs came in the 11 overs following Bhui’s dismissal, with Gujarat taking another two wickets. They wrapped up the win moments later as Piyush Chawla dismissed Lalith Mohan for the day's final wicket.
Priyank Panchal’s hundred was the highlight of Gujarat’s innings
On a day where both Karnataka openers scored hundreds in the other Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final, Gujarat skipper Priyank Panchal came up with a mesmerizing ton of his own.
He smashed two sixes and 10 fours on his way to 134. Priyank Panchal batted for almost the entire innings and got out as he holed one out to long-off at the death.
While none of the other Gujarat batsmen went past 40, many chipped in with useful contributions throughout the innings. Rahul V Shah looked good during his 36, before being trapped LBW by Lalith Mohan.
It was the same case for Ripal Patel (35 off 24 balls) who got out trying to hit one shot too many over the leg side. A late flurry from Chirag Gandhi and Piyush Chawla helped Gujarat set a target of 300 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final, with the side scoring 93 runs in the last 10 overs.
The win means Gujarat keep their unbeaten Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 record intact and march into the semi-finals. For Andhra, it was always going to be a challenge after scraping through to the knockout stages as their domestic campaign comes to an end.
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