Vijay Hazare Trophy: All-rounder Yuvraj takes Punjab home; Maharashtra, Gujarat win

Photo: AFP New Delhi: Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Manpreet Gony complemented Yuvraj Singh's all-round show, adding 80 runs in 7.5 overs to guide Punjab to a three-wicket victory over Railways in a group A league game of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Wednesday. Batting first, Railways scored 246/9 in 50 overs while Punjab reached the target in 49.1 overs. Yuvraj was the star performer scoring 66 runs and taking 2/35 with the ball. Other veteran Harbhajan Singh had 1/50 in 10 overs. Gurkeerat anchored the innings with an unbeaten 69 off 84 balls that included four boundaries while Gony clobbered the Railway bowlers hitting 46 off 24 balls with three sixes and two fours. The duo came together at 167 for seven and ensured the second win for Punjab in their fourth game. If they can win the last two matches, Punjab will still have a chance to qualify for the knock-out stages. Veteran Yuvraj Singh, who skipper the Baroda game smashed run-a-ball 66 including six fours and a six. Brief Score: Railways 246/9 (Arindam Ghosh 83, Yuvraj Singh 2/35) lost to Punjab 247/7 in 49.1 overs (Yuvraj Singh 66, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 69 no, Manpreet Singh Gony 48 no). OTHER GROUP A MATCHES At Karnail : Haryana 306/6 in 49 overs (Shubham Rohilla 118, Nitin Saini 54, Shivam Chauhan 47, Amit Verma 3/47) Assam 253/9 in 49 overs (KB Arun Karthick 60, J Syed Mohammed 30, Pritam Laru Das 65). Haryana won by 53 runs. At Kotla: Odisha 281/7 in 50 overs (Gobinda Poddar 77, Abhishek Yadav 40, Swapnil Singh 3/58) Baroda 284/5 (Aditya Waghmode 92, Deepak Hooda 78 no). Baroda won by 5 wickets

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Cuttack: Ruturaj Gaikwad (82) and Naushad Shaikh (68) blasted twin fifties as Maharashtra defeated Tamil Nadu by 22 runs in their Group B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wendesday. Electing to bat, Gaikwad slammed nine boundaries and two sixes in his 76-ball innings, while fifth-down batsman Shaikh hit three fours and as many sixes in his 66-ball stay to power Maharashtra to a challenging 270 allout in 48.5 overs. Maharashtra then dished out a disciplined bowling performance with Shrikant Mundhe returning with a four-wicket haul and Nikit Dhumal and Shamshuzama Kazi snapping two wickets each as they dismissed Tamil Nadu for 248 with five balls to spare. Skipper Baba Indrajith (49) was the top-scorer for Tamil Nadu, while opener Kaushik Gandhi (38), Ganga Sridhar Raju (37) and Baba Aparajith (26) -- all got starts but they couldn't capitalise. Brief Score: Maharashtra 270 allout in 48.5 overs (RD Gaikwad 82, NS Shaikh 68; M Mohammad 2/36) beat Tamil Nadu 248 all out in 49.1 overs (B Indrajith 49; SS Mundhe 4/43) OTHER GROUP B MATCHES At KIIT Stadium: Uttar Pradesh 387 for five in 50 overs (AD Nath 143; V Vinod Kumar 2/83). Kerela 142 all out in 32 overs (Vishnu Vinod 32; P hawla 3/19). UP won by 245 runs At Barabati Stadium: Tripura 206 all out in 49. 5 overs (N Sen Chowdhury 51; P Jaiswal 4/32) Himachal Pradesh 68 all out in 15 overs (Sumeet Verma 31; AK Sarkar 6/31). Tripura won by 138 runs.

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Chennai: Priyank Panchal hit a half-century as Gujarat posted a comfortable four-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh in a Group C match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday. Having restricted Madhya Pradesh to 213 for nine, Gujarat achieved the target in just 43.1 overs, losing six wickets in the process. Electing to bat, Madhya Pradesh batsmen struggled to keep their wickets intact with all five Gujarat's bowlers chipping in with contributions. Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh: 213 for 9 in 50 overs (Shubham Sharma 40; Rohit Dahiya 2/32). Gujarat: 214 for 6 in 43.1 overs (Priyank Panchal 53, Bhargav Merai 45). OTHER GROUP C MATCHES  Andhra: 228 for 9 in 50 overs (AG Pradeep 115 not out; Felix Alemao 3/42) Goa: 225 all out in 50 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 83; Bhargav Bhatt 3/36). Andhra won by 3 runs Rajasthan: 274 for 9 in 50 overs (Dishant Yagnik 100, Kanishk Seth 4/59). Bengal: 275 for 8 in 49 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 85, AR Easwaran 79; Rahul Chahar 3/33). Bengal won by 2 wickets