Vijay Hazare Trophy
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 5: Despite a remarkable performance from off-spinning all-rounder Sahil Lotra, his special knock and splendid bowling display could not save Jammu and Kashmir from a defeat against a strong Haryana team. The brilliance of Nishant Sindhu and Rahul Tewatia proved crucial as Haryana emerged victorious by 4 wickets in a closely fought Vijay Hazare Trophy match at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium ‘A’, Motera, today.
Earlier, J&K were made to bat first and despite some initial difficulties, they managed to achieve a remarkable half-century by Sahil Lotra. Additionally, Shubham Khajuria, Shubham Singh Pundir, and Yudhvir Singh also made valuable contributions which led to a decent total of 250 runs in 49.4 overs.
Sahil Lotra, in particular, played a special knock in accordance with the demand of the situation. He scored 74 runs off 75 balls with 6 boundaries and a six. The knock was special because Lotra scored just 30 runs with fours and sixes and managed to score the rest of his runs in singles and twos to succeed in maintaining a healthy run rate. Shubham Singh Pundir scored 46 runs off 57 balls studded with 6 fours and 1 six, while skipper Shubham Khajuria contributed 41 runs to the total. 27-ball 29 runs by Yudhvir Singh and 31-ball 21 runs by Abid Mushtaq lower down the order gave impetus to J&K innings.
For Haryana, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Tewatia, Anshul Kamboj and Harshal Patel took 2 wickets each, while Nishant Sindhu and SP Kumar claimed one wicket each. In reply, Haryana came back strongly after struggling at 108/5 in 26.4 overs at one point of time and chased the target in 49.3 overs, losing 6 wickets in the process, thus winning the match by 4 wickets.
Rahul Tewatia remained unconquered at 67 runs off 68 balls, studded with 4 fours and one six, while Nishant Sindhu contributed 61 off 59 balls with 6 fours and one six. Earlier, Yuvraj Singh contributed 58 off 82 balls and Ankit Kumar made 24 runs, while SP Kumar remained unconquered at 19 runs off 14 balls. However, the architects of Haryana victory were Sindhu and Tewatia who held their nerves in the crunch situation and made a big partnership of 100 odd runs to guide Haryana script emphatic victory. Both were gritty and showed sublimity and solidity to notch up brilliant fifties and took their side to home.
For J&K, right-arm off-spinner Sahil Lotra was the pick of the bowlers, who took 2 wickets by conceding 32 runs in his 10 overs, while medium pacer Auqib Nabi also took 2 wickets. Yudhvir Singh and Abid Mushtaq claimed one wicket each.
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