Delhi ended Assam’s dream run with a 75-run win in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the ACA-VDCA stadium here on Sunday.
The young Assam team had made it to the knockout stage and the final for the first time with its excellent fielding and restrictive bowling. But these two qualities were lacking in this crucial match.
Put into bat, Delhi scored 290 for nine with Unmukt Chand scoring a fine century (116, 133b, 8x4, 3x6). Unmukt and Punit Bisht (52, 64b, 5x4, 1x6) gave their team a good start with a 97-run opening stand. Though Gautam Gambhir fell cheaply for five, Unmukt and Jagrit Anand (48) put on 115 runs for the third wicket.
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Unmukt scored three big sixes in an over off medium-pacer Pritam Das, and one off spinner Gokul Sharma. While his fifty came off 75 balls with five fours, the next fifty was scored off 35 balls, with two more fours and three sixes.
Delhi bowled tightly and the fielding was sharp putting Assam on the defensive right from the start. Parvinder Awana, Varun Sood and captain Rajat Bhatia were the pick of the bowlers.
Dheeraj Jadhav (87, 114b, 4x4, 1x6) alone fought a lone battle for Assam. He received some support from Pallav Das (31) but the opener’s run-out in the 15th over when the score was 64 was a big blow for Assam.
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Gokul Sharma, Syed Mohammed and captain Abu Nechim Ahmed gave some support to Jadhav who eventually was the ninth batsman to depart with the team score on 215.
The scores:
Delhi 290 for nine in 50 overs (Unmukt Chand 116, Puneet Bisht 52, Jagrit Anand 48, Milind Kumar 31, Pritam Das three for 54) bt Assam 215 in 44.2 overs (Dheeraj Jadhav 87, Pallav Das 31, Abu Nechim Ahmed 29, Rajat Bhatia three for 36).