Dhoni’s heroics in vain as Delhi win

As Mahendra Singh Dhoni finally came to the party for his state team, Jharkhand fell to a dismal 99-run loss to Delhi in the Vijay Hazare quarter-final at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday.

After restricting Delhi to 225, the Jharkhand batsmen failed with the bat from the word go as they were bowled out for 126 in 38 overs, bringing their campaign to an end. Delhi set things rolling from the very first over as Navdeep Saini dismissed opener Ishank Jaggi, while Ishant Sharma clean bowled Ishan Kishan in the very next.

Things looked very meek for the Varun Aaron-led team as they languished at 9 for four when the Indian skipper walked in. With most of the batsmen falling to single digits, Dhoni gave the crowd something to cheer for as he remained unbeaten on 70 off 108 deliveries, with five fours and sending the ball out of the park four times. Playing in his conventional style the 34-year-old got off to a slow start, before bringing in the fireworks, sending Ishant Sharma for 16 runs in one over. Playing a knock to remember before he heads out for the Australia series Dhoni put up the highest partnership for Jharkhand for the last wicket with Vikash Singh (1) putting up 29 runs off 52 balls, bringing his domestic stint this year to an end on the positive note.

With the likes of Ishant Sharma present in the line-up the Delhi bowlers put up a disciplined bowling attack with Subodh Bhati picking up four wickets, while Navdeep Saini and Ishant Sharma pocketed three and two respectively.

An all-round show by Delhi’s Pawan Negi saw him walk away with the man-of-the match trophy.

Bist ton downs Punjab

Riding on Robin Bist’s unbeaten 109, Himachal Pradesh posted a five-wicket win over Punjab and entered the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy cricket in Alur. After restricting Punjab to 263 for eight, HP reached the target, scoring 266 for five with four balls to spare.

Scores: Delhi 225 in 50 overs (N. Rana 44, P. Negi 38*, R. Shukla 3/60) bt Jharkhand 126 in 38 overs (M.S. Dhoni 70*, S. Bhati 4/21, N. Saini 3/31). Punjab 263/8 in 50 overs (Mandeep 119, Jaiswal 3/50, R. Dhawan 3/60) lost to Himachal Pradesh 266/5 in 49.2 overs (R. Bist 109*, R. Dhawan 41, Kaul 3/42)