Vijay Hazare Trophy: Sanju Samson Falters, Vishnu Vinod Shines For Kerala; Rishabh Pant-Led Delhi Register Knockout’s Spot Despite Virat Kohli’s Absence

Vijay Hazare Trophy: Sanju Samson had a forgettable day at the office as he was dismissed for 11 off 14 against Pondicherry while playing for Kerala in Ahmedabad. Samson had opened the innings for Kerala but failed to put up a big score and the side was left in a spot of bother at 30/2. 

But it was the middle-order batter Vishnu Vinod and Baba Aparajith came in for the rescue and stitched a match-winning partnership of 222 runs for the third wicket. Vinod hammered the opposition bowlers and smashed 84-ball 162* which included 14 maximums and 13 fours. 

Aparajith remained unbeaten at 63 off 69 as Kerala won by 8 wickets. 

Vijay Hazare Trophy: Rishabh Pant-Led Delhi Through To Qualifiers

Delhi have moved into the qualifiers of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after etching another win the tournament. Delhi defeated Railways by 6 wickets after chasing down a target of 180 runs. Navdeep Saini and Ayush Badoni bagged three wickets apiece. Later, openers Sarthak Ranjan and Priyansh Arya were off to a quick start as the two posted 109 runs for the first wicket in just 13th over.

Arya smashed 80 off 41. Nitish Rana also played an aggressive knock of 38* off 28 while captain Rishabh Pant chipped in with 24 off 9 to take the side over the line. This is Delhi’s fifth win in 6 matches and the side now has 20 points under the belt. 

Earlier, Virat Kohli also featured in two games of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The right-handed batter hit a century against Andhra and a fifty against Gujarat. Earlier, Kohli was supposed to play the match against Railways but he opted out a day ahead of the game. He might be available for the next fixture against Haryana on January 8. 

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