Axar, Hardik, Tilak, Padikkal produce standout performances in Vijay Hazare Trophy

New Delhi [India], January 3 (ANI): Several standout individual performances marked Saturday's Vijay Hazare Trophy action as teams across the country produced high-scoring encounters, dramatic finishes and commanding wins.
In Gujarat's clash against Andhra, Axar Patel produced a memorable knock, scoring his maiden List A century. Axar smashed 130 off 111 balls, including 11 fours and five sixes, to power Gujarat to 318/9 in their 50 overs. Andhra fought hard in the chase but fell short by just seven runs. Ravi Bishnoi (3/64) and Axar himself (2/27) played key roles with the ball to seal a narrow victory.
Punjab registered a comfortable win on the back of a five-wicket haul from Arshdeep Singh, who finished with figures of 5/34. He was well supported by Prabhsimran Singh's half-century, which helped Punjab cruise to victory.
Maharashtra delivered a batting masterclass against Mumbai, piling up 366/4 in their allotted overs. Prithvi Shaw led the charge with 71, while Arshin Kulkarni struck a brilliant 114. Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad added 66 and Ramakrishna Ghosh remained unbeaten on 64. Mumbai's chase never gathered momentum despite Angkrish Raghuvanshi's 92 and Siddesh Lad's 52, as they were bowled out for 238 in 42 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal managed 3.
Delhi dominated Services with an all-round performance. Harshit Rana starred with the ball, picking up 4/47 in his 10 overs as Services were restricted to 178 in 42.5 overs. In reply, Delhi chased down the target with ease, thanks to unbeaten half-centuries from captain Rishabh Pant, who made 67 off 37 balls with four fours and six sixes, and Priyansh Arya, who struck 72 off 45 deliveries, sealing an eight-wicket win in just 19.4 overs.
Hyderabad rode on Tilak Varma's fine century to register a convincing win over Chandigarh. Tilak scored 109 off 118 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes, to take Hyderabad to 286/9. Mohammed Siraj chipped in with an economical spell of 1/19 in eight overs as Chandigarh were bowled out well short, losing by 136 runs.
In Baroda's fixture, Hardik Pandya registered his maiden List A century, blasting 133 off just 92 balls with eight fours and 11 sixes to help Baroda post 293/9. However, last season's finalists Vidarbha chased down the target comfortably with nine wickets in hand, as Aman Mokhade played a sensational unbeaten knock of 150, while Dhruv Shorey supported him with an unbeaten 65 to finish the chase in 41.4 overs.
Jharkhand posted a competitive 311/7, led by Kumar Kushagra's impressive 143 off 137 balls and Anukul Roy's 72. Kerala, however, chased the target down convincingly. Sanju Samson struck a fluent 101 off 95 balls, while skipper Rohan Kunnummal remained unbeaten on 124 off just 78 deliveries, guiding his side to an eight-wicket win in 42.3 overs.
Tamil Nadu found themselves on the wrong side of the result despite Varun Chakravarthy's excellent bowling performance. Varun claimed 4/25 to bowl Rajasthan out for 225 in 46.5 overs. In response, Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 215, falling short despite fighting efforts from Narayan Jagadeesan, who made 71 off 52 balls, and Washington Sundar's 36.
Karnataka produced a strong batting display, finishing on 332/7. Devdutt Padikkal scored his 13th List A century in just 38 matches, making 108 off 120 balls, which was also his fourth hundred of the season. KL Rahul marked his return with 35 off 28 balls, while Ravichandran Smaran added 60 and Abhinav Manohar smashed an unbeaten 79 off 43 deliveries. Tripura were bowled out for 252 despite Swapnil Singh's valiant century, with Shreyas Gopal (3/33), Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/54) and Prasidh Krishna among the wickets.
Bengal posted 302/7, thanks to Abhimanyu Easwaran's composed century of 102 off 116 balls and an unbeaten 66 from Shahbaz Ahmed. Mohammed Shami then led the bowling attack with figures of 3/55 as Assam were dismissed for 217 in 42.1 overs.
Uttar Pradesh also registered a solid win, beating Jammu and Kashmir by 58 runs. Sameer Rizwi remained unbeaten on 80, with valuable contributions from Dhruv Jurel (55), Rinku Singh (41) and Prashant Veer, who scored 37 off just 18 balls and also picked up a wicket. Zeeshan Ansari (3/49) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/49) played key roles with the ball to complete the victory. (ANI)