Haryana life maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy; stuns Rajasthan by 30 runs

Haryana first posted 287 for 8 and then bundled out Rajasthan for 257 as their opener Abhijeet Tomar's hundred went in vain. Haryana batters justified the decision of their skipper to opt to bat as they posted a challenging 287 for 8 on the board as they rode on opener Ankit Kumar's 88 off 91 balls and skipper Ashok Maneria's 70 off 96 balls. It was the Kumar-Maneria duo which pulled Haryana out of the trouble after they lost opener Yuvraj Singh (1) and one-down Himanshu Rana (10) cheaply.

Rajkot (Gujarat): Haryana won their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy after defeating Rajasthan by 30 runs in the summit clash held here on Saturday. This year the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 tournament had a new champion in Punjab and now the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic ODI tournament, also has a new champion in Haryana, who was unbeaten in the tournament and won all their 10 games.

Haryana first posted 287 for 8 and then bundled out Rajasthan for 257 as their opener Abhijeet Tomar's hundred went in vain. Haryana batters justified the decision of their skipper to opt to bat as they posted a challenging 287 for 8 on the board as they rode on opener Ankit Kumar's 88 off 91 balls and skipper Ashok Maneria's 70 off 96 balls. It was the Kumar-Maneria duo which pulled Haryana out of the trouble after they lost opener Yuvraj Singh (1) and one-down Himanshu Rana (10) cheaply.

The duo took a formidable Rajasthan attack to task. While Ankit Kumar hammered 12 boundaries and one maximum, skipper Maneria's knock was laced with eight hits to the fence. Rohit Pramod Sharma (20), Nishant Sindhu (29), Rahul Tewatia (24) and Sunit Kumar (28 off 16 balls) played their parts to perfection as Haryana crossed the 285-run mark at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Khandheri.

For Rajasthan, pacer Aniket Choudhary (4 for 49) was the pick of the bowlers. For Rajasthan, opener Tomar was the lone warrior but he was devoid of partners. Ram Mohan Chouhan (1), Mahipal Lomror (2), semi-final hero Deepak Hooda (0), and Karan Lamba (20) fell in quick succession as Haryana was on the top.

Tomar, who smashed 10 fours and two sixes, found an able ally in Kunal Singh Rathore (79 off 65 balls) as they tried to take the game deep, but once the duo fell it was all over for Rajasthan, who ended as runners up. For Haryana, Sumit Kumar and Harshal Patel snapped three wickets each, while Anshul Kamboj and Rahul Tewatia got two wickets each. The Ranji Trophy will start in January.