HAR vs BGL

So the line up for the semis are - Haryana vs Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan vs Karnataka. Brace yourselves for the final three matches of the competition. This is Probuddha Bhattacharjee signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Mohul Bhowmick from this game.

Ashok Menaria (Haryana Captain): Yes, the whole team thought that we must win the toss. We did and it turned out in our favour. Our fielding has been outstanding in the tournament and as a result the bowlers have got a great support. Yes after the first couple of wickets fell we thought that we must get a partnership going. But Ankit started connecting and things got easier. We have made it a habit of loosening our grip on the match in the middle phase and we need to work on it. Thank you!

Yuzvendra Chahal (Man of the Match): Nothing sir, the wicket seemed like a 350 wicket. But after seeing the fast bowlers ball we felt that batting is difficult here. Thus we looked to keep a stump to stump line and not give away runs. My main aim was to give less runs and the wickets came due to the pressure. The varying of the pace was the key for me and that got me results. We have now won eight wickets, and the whole team is contributing. We are playing like a champion side and there are chances of silverware this year. No, even after losing wickets, we had the belief that we can win the match as we had the depth in the batting.

Sudip Gharami (Bengal Captain): Yes we were about 40-50 runs short. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals and that was the major problem. Yes there was a bit happening at the beginning of our bowling innings. But as the ball got old, batting got easier and they played well. We played a lot of loose shots and gave away wickets at wrong times. Shahbaz played an excellent innings and kept us in the match. Yes we tried to pick up as many wickets as possible as that was the only way we could have won this game.

Match Summary:

Haryana win the match by four wickets with 29 balls remaining in the game.

Shabaz Ahmed 100(118) | Yuzvendra Chahal 4/37(10)
Ankit Kumar 102 (102) | Pardipta Pramanik 2/29 (7)

Thus we have reached the end of the first quarter final in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023. Haryana are through to the semi-finals. Earlier in the day, Haryana won the toss and decided to field first. It turned out to be the perfect decision as the Bengal batters struggled to show any kind of resilience. Haryana had Bengal reeling at 93 for 5 within the 26th over of the innings.

Shahbaz Ahmed saw wickets falling around him but he stood out as the lone-warrior for the team. His 100 off 118 deliveries was the sole reason Bengal managed to reach the total of 225 in their 50 overs.

In the chase, Haryana did not get a good start. Mohammed Kaif dismissed Yuvraj Singh with his first ball and gave a shock to them. The good work continued for Bengal as Ishan Porel struck soon and Himanshu Rana was back in the hut. Haryana were struggling at 14 for 2 in the fifth over of the innings.

After this Ankit Kumar and Ashok Menaria stabilized the ship. They got a partnership going for Haryana and marched towards the target steadily. Gradually with time batting got easier and Haryana took the game out of Bengal’s grasp. They stitched a partnership of 126 runs before Menaria (39 off 71) was dismissed by Pardipta Pramanik.

Even after Menaria’s dismissal the pressure did not seem to build on Haryana as Ankit Kumar kept on scoring the runs. He was ultimately dismissed in the 35th over after he scored 102 runs off 102 deliveries. At this stage, they lost one more wicket and it was within an interval of 29 runs that they lost three quick ones giving Bengal a ray of hope.

However, Rahul Tewatia stayed till the end and ensured that Haryana went across the line even after suffering a slip-up along the way. Haryana managed to reach the target with four wickets in hand and 29 balls remaining in the game.

45.1 Mohammed Kaif to Sumit Kumar, HARYANA WIN THIS GAME AND QUALIFY FOR THE SEMI FINALS! Short of a length on off and middle, comes back in and rises a tad. Kumar pulls it away towards deep square leg and crosses over for the WINNING RUN! Haryana have qualified for the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time in 13 years!

Haryana are just a single run away from making it to their second semi-final in the history of Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is after 13 years that they have reached this stage.

44.6 Ishan Porel to Rahul Tewatia, STONE DEAD LBW! Tewatia gets out for the first time in this tournament! Fullish on off and middle, comes back in with the angle and stays a tad low. He tries to whip it away to the on side but does not connect. The ball goes on to hammer into his pads plumb in front of the stumps. Big appeal for lbw, and it is given.

He takes the review. UltraEdge confirms that his bat is not involved. Ball tracker, however, showcases that the impact was outside off! Tewatia is NOT OUT. He has to come back to bat after almost having walked off the ground- he remains unbeaten in this tournament!

44.2 Ishan Porel to Rahul Tewatia, short delivery on off and middle, slower delivery too. Tewatia pulls it towards deep square leg. Single taken.