Vijay Hazare Trophy: Parth Vats' all-round performance helps Haryana beat Bengal by 72 runs, qualifies for quarterfinals

Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], January 9 (ANI): Parth Vats's all-round performance guided Haryana to a 72-run victory over Bengal in the first preliminary quarter-final of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara on Thursday.
With the victory, Haryana qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Bengal won the toss and decided to field first, however, the decision did not favour them.
Parth Vats (62 runs from 77 balls, 6 fours) and Nishant Sindhu's (64 runs from 67 balls, 6 fours and 1 six) blitz knocks propelled Haryana to 298/9 in the first inning. Sumit Kumar (41* runs from 32 balls, 6 fours and 1 six) added some crucial in the death over of the first inning.
Mohammed Shami led the Bengal bowling attack with his three-wicket haul, however, it was not enough to restrict Haryana. Mukesh Kumar also picked up two wickets during his nine-over spell.
During the run chase, Abishek Porel (57 runs from 78 balls, 6 fours) gave a fiery start to Bengal and cemented a 70-run opening stand with his partner Sudip Kumar Gharami (36 runs from 39 balls, 5 fours and 1 six). But Haryana bowling managed to restrict the run rate by picking successive wickets in the inning.
Anustup Majumdar (36 runs from 34 balls, 3 fours and 1 six) and Karan Lal (28 runs from 30 balls, 2 fours and 1 sixes) tried their best in the middle order but succumbed to the opponent's bowling attack.
Parth Vats's three-wicket haul led Haryana's bowling attack and restricted Bengal to 226 in the 44th over. With an all-round performance, Haryana clinched a 72-run victory over Bengal on Thursday.
Haryana will play their quarterfinal against Gujarat in Vadodara on January 12.
In the second preliminary quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 on Thursday, Rajasthan locked horns against Tamil Nadu.
Abhijeet Tomar's swashbuckling 111-run knock and Aman Singh Shekhawat's three-wicket haul helped Rajasthan clinch a 19-run triumph over Tamil Nadu at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.
Tamil Nadu won the toss and opted to bowl against Rajasthan.
Abhijeet (111 runs from 125 balls, 12 fours and 4 sixes) and Sachin Yadav (4 runs from 27 balls) opened for Rajasthan, even though the opening stand couldn't shine in the first inning, Skipper Mahipal Lomror (60 runs from 49 balls, 3 fours and 4 sixes) solidified a 160-run stand with Abhijeet and propelled Rajasthan to 267 in the first inning.
Varun Chakaravarthy displayed a stupendous performance and led the Tamil Nadu bowling attack, with his fifer.
During the run chase, the Tamil Nadu batters failed to make a strong partnership in the game, which cost them the game.
Wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan (65 runs from 52 balls, 10 fours) and Vijay Shankar (49 runs from 69 balls, 2 fours and 1 six) were the only top batters for Tamil Nadu, but couldn't make a difference and conceded a 19-run defeat in the game.
Aman Singh Shekhawat, Aniket Choudhary, and Kukna Ajay Singh's top bowling spells helped Rajasthan to bundle out Tamil Nadu to 248.
Rajasthan will take on Vidarbha in the quarterfinal on January 12 in Vadodara. (ANI)