Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 Round Up: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Saurashtra Qualify For Quarter Final

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Saurashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Services on Tuesday qualified directly for the quarter-final stage of the ongoing 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy after topping their respective elite groups.

The runner-up of each elite group -- Vidarbha, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and winner of Plate Group will battle it out in the preliminary quarterfinals for the remaining three last-eight spots.

Elite Group A

In Group A match on Tuesday, skipper Faiz Fazal struck an unbeaten hundred as Vidarbha comfortably beat Jammu and Kashmir by five wickets. Chasing 234 for victory after opting to bowl first, Vidarbha rode Fazal's knock (102 off 110 balls) to complete the task with as many seven overs to spare at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

In another Group A match, Himachal Pradesh beat Odisha by 63 runs. Chasing an imposing target of 361 in 50 overs, Odisha could only score 297 in 45.1 overs. Rishi Dhawan (91 not out) and Mayank Dagar (6/59) were the main performers for HP.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh beat Gujarat by 81 runs in the Elite Group A match. Riding on Bharat's blazing 156 off 138 balls, Andhra posted a total of 253 for nine after batting first. In reply, Gujarat were all out for 172 in 41.3 overs with left-arm spinner Manish Golamaru picking 4/30.

Elite Group B:

In Group B on Tuesday, Bengal beat Karnataka by four wickets. Manish Pandey's 90 off 85 deliveries came in a losing cause as a collective batting performance from Bengal helped them chase down a target of 253 with eight deliveries to spare.

In another game, Puducherry beat Mumbai by 18 runs. Fabid Ahmed's 4 for 16 in 10 overs set up Puducherry's 18-run win against Mumbai. After posting only 157, Puducherry bowled out Mumbai for 139, with Aakarshit Gomel (70) being the only Mumbai batter to cross 20.

Meanwhile, Krunal Pandya's all-round performance helped Baroda beat Tamil Nadu by 41 runs. His 38 was the highest score in Baroda's innings while the next highest by a batter was only 11 as they were bowled out for 114. Tamil Nadu fared even poorer with the bat, being skittled out for 73 in 20.2 overs. Pandya picked up the important wickets of N Jagadeesan and Baba Indrajith.

Elite Group C:

Harshal Patel's all-round efforts went in vain as Uttar Pradesh beat Haryana by 78 runs. After UP scored 245/9, the allrounder struck a 61-ball 67 but the rest of the UP batters didn't perform up to the mark and were all out for 167 in 38.5 overs, as Ankit Rajpoot bagged a five-wicket haul.

Meanwhile, Saurashtra beat Delhi by four wickets in another match. Batting first, Delhi posted 201 for 8 courtesy useful knocks from Anuj Rawat (45 off 57 balls) and skipper Pradeep Sangwan (34 off 43 balls).

In reply, Saurashtra chased down the target losing six wickets in 38.1 overs with Prerak Mankad smashing 73 off 63 balls and this was his second half-century in two back-to-back games.

In another match, CV Milind's 6 for 63 went in vain as Hyderabad lost to Jharkhand by 36 runs. Jharkhand finished with 276 and in reply, Hyderabad could only manage 240. Shahbaz Nadeem and Varun Aaron picked up three wickets apiece.

Elite Group D:

In Group D, Maharashtra beat Chandigarh by five wickets With four centuries in five games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ruturaj Gaikwad led Maharashtra to another win while Manan Vohra continued to impress as well, bringing up his second List A hundred on the trot.

But Gaikwad's 168 overshadowed Vohra's 141 as Maharashtra got over the line with five wickets in hand and seven deliveries to spare in a chase of 310 against Chandigarh.

In another Group D match, Kerala beat Uttarakhand by five wickets while Madhya Pradesh defeated Chhattisgarh by three runs.

Elite E:

In Group E, Assam beat Railways by 62 runs while Services registered a 16 run win over Rajasthan by 16 runs.

In another game, Anmolpreet Singh (101) and Gurkeerat Mann (105) scored centuries for Punjab in the game against Goa, which ended in a tie after both teams finished with 288. Snehal Kauthankar was the top scorer in the match as he stayed unbeaten on 148 off 141, having scored 16 fours and three sixes.

Plate group

In the Plate group, Tripura beat Meghalaya by nine wickets; Manipur beat Sikkim by two wickets; Bihar beat Arunachal Pradesh by six wickets; Nagaland beat Mizoram by 80 runs