Mumbai reached to the final of 2018/19 Vijay Hazare Trophy after beating Hyderabad by 60 runs through the VJD method in the rain-interrupted semi-final at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru).
On Wednesday, Hyderabad decided to bat first after winning the toss. Apart from the no.3 batsman Rohit Rayudu, none of Hyderabad batsmen was able to put any solid threatening fight against the Mumbai bowlers.
The 24-year-old left-handed top-order batsman Rayudu shaped Hyderabad’s innings and helped them to score 246/8 at the end of 50 overs. Coming to bat at the sixth over of the innings, Rayudu stayed in the crease till the end of the innings as he remained not out on 121 runs off 132 balls (8 fours and 4 sixes). It was his third List A century.
The second highest scorer in that innings was the no.4 batsman Bavanaka Sandeep with the 29-run knock. No.9 batsman Mehdi Hassan (23) was the only other batsman in that innings to reach the 20-run mark. Skipper Ambati Rayudu managed to score only 11 runs after coming to bat at the no.5 position.
Among the Mumbai bowlers, Tushar Deshpande (3/55) picked up three wickets and Royston Dias (2/43) claimed two wickets while Dhawal Kulkarni (1/39), Shivam Dubey (1/58) and Shams Mulani (1/38) got one wicket each.
In reply, openers Prithvi Shaw and Rohit Sharma provided a 73-run partnership, which set their smooth journey for chasing. While Sharma scored 17 runs, Shaw continued his international cricket form and hit another attacking half-century as he scored 61 off 44 balls (8 fours and 2 sixes).
At next, the skipper Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane kept the moment on with another unbroken 73-run partnership for the third wicket before rain interrupted the game. Iyer played an unbeaten 55 runs knock off 53 balls (5 fours and 2 sixes) while Rahane was not out on 17 runs.
While the game didn’t start again, the match was decided through the VJD method where Mumbai needed to score just 96 runs at the same time game interruption. As a result, Mumbai won by 60 runs and reached to final of the tournament.
The left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan was the only bowler to take the wicket in that innings as he had a bowling figure of 6-0-23-2.
Brief Scores: Hyderabad – 246/8 in 50 overs (Rohit Rayudu 121*, Bavanaka Sandeep 29; Tushar Deshpande 3/55)
Mumbai (Revised target: 96 in 25 overs) – 155/2 in 25 overs (Prithvi Shaw 61, Shreyas Iyer 55*; Mehdi Hassan 2/23)
Result – Mumbai won by 60 runs (VJD method)
