Mohammed Siraj warmed up well for the upcoming New Zealand ODIs, taking 4/58 in Hyderabad’s big 107-run win over Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday.
In the group B clash in Rajkot, Hyderabad, put into bat, rode on an unbeaten 200
from their Wisconsin-born opener Aman Rao to post a massive 352/5.
Aman, roped in by Rajasthan Royals for ₹30 lakh in last month’s IPL auction, hit 13 sixes and 12 fours against an attack featuring quicks Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar — the trio with a good amount of India and IPL experience.
Thereafter, Siraj struck early to push Bengal back so much so that they just couldn’t recover despite the in-form Shahbaz Ahmed’s unbeaten 108 and Anustup Majumdar’s 59. Bengal were eventually bowled out for 245 in 44.4 overs.
To qualify for the quarter finals, Bengal must beat group toppers Uttar Pradesh on Thursday and hope both Vidarbha and Baroda lose their respective matches.
Making matters tougher for Bengal, Abishek Porel is out for six to eight weeks with a left-shoulder injury.
On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka sealed their respective quarter-final berths. The Rishabh Pant-led Delhi thumped Railways by six wickets in Alur.
For Uttar Pradesh, Abhishek Goswami hit 103 in their 54-run win over Vidarbha in Rajkot. Goswami was ably supported by Dhruv Jurel (56) and Rinku Singh (57) as they posted 339/5. Kuldeep Yadav took 3/52 as Vidarbha finished
at 285/9.
In Ahmedabad, skipper Mayank Agarwal (100), Devdutt Padikkal (91) and pacer Prasidh Krishna (5/36) starred in Karnataka’s 150-run win over Rajasthan.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 352/5 in 50 ovs (Aman Rao 200 n.o.; Mohammed Shami 3/70). Bengal 245 in 44.4 ovs (Shahbaz Ahmed 108 n.o.; Mohammed Siraj 59). Hyderabad won by 107 runs.
