Bengaluru , December 23 : Indian ODI captain MS Dhoni’s 70 went in vain as Delhi thrash Jharkhand by 99 runs in a crucial quarterfinal tie at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bengaluru. Batting first Delhi were bundled out for a mere 225. Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant added 50 runs for the first wicket before Rishabh got out. Skipper Gambhir(20) and Milind Packing were the victims of Varun Aaron , snapping up both of them in the same over . Gambhir was run out by Shahbaz Nadeem while Milind was caught behind by Dhoni. Nilesh Rana(44) and Manan Sharma(21) then shared a 74 run partnership before both of them perished to Rahul Sharma. Pawan Negi blasted a 16 balls 38 towards the end as Delhi posted a respective total. Jharkhand in reply had a horrible start .
Navdeep Saini sent Ishant Jaggi packing in the first over while Indian pacer Ishant Sharma removed the middle stump of Ishan Kishan,India’s captain for the upcomimg U-19 World Cup. Saurabh Tiwary too didn’t last long thanks to a stunning catch by Unmukt Chand at the covers. Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived amidst cheer from the local crowd. Dhoni looked to steady the innings with Kaushal Singh , but Navdeep bowled Singh . Ankit Dabas too did not last long as he was bowled by Subodh Bhati after staying at the crease for only seven overs .
Dhoni fought a lone battle as he tried to attack the opponent bowlers. He hit two mammoth sixes off Manan Sharma to remain not out on 70 .
In another match Yuvraj Singh’s sublime form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy came to an end as he got out for a paltry five runs against Himachal Pradesh. Yuvraj who recently made a comeback to the Indian team has been in tremendous form in the tournament . But when the southpaw failed to deliver for his team when it mattered the most . His previous scores were 93, 36, 36, 78* and 98.
Himachal Pradesh captain Bipul Sharma decided to field first after winning the toss. Punjab rode on a century by Mandeep Singh to register 263. Gurkeerat Mann, Mayank Siddana, Gitansh Khera and Harbhajan Singh all contributed . Harbhajan blasted 25 off 13 balls including 3 sixes.
Chasing a total of 263 Robin Bist led from the front as he scored a brilliant 109* from 188 balls. PK Dogra and Rishi Dhawan, who also was recently picked by the Indian selectors for the upcoming Australian tour chipped in valuable runs. Dhawan scored 41 before getting out to Harbhajan Singh. At the end it was Bist , who took Himachal Pradesh to the semis winning the match by 5 wickets .
Brief Scores: HP vs Punjab : Himachal Pradesh (toss) 266/5 (Bist 109*, Kaul 3/38) beat Punjab 263/8 (Mandeep 119, Rishi Dhawan 3/60) by 5 wickets.
Brief Scores: Delhi vs Jharkhand : Delhi 225 (Rana 44, Rahul Shukla 3/60) beat Jharkhand (toss) 126 (Dhoni 70*, Bhati 4/21) by 99 runs.