Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017: Harbhajan Singh and Mandeep Singh's efforts guide Punjab to a 6 wicket victory over Vidarbha

While Harbhajan bowled an economical spell, Mandeep Singh anchored the chase hitting nine boundaries and two sixes

New Delhi: Favourites Punjab today cruised to an easy six wicket win over Vidarbha in a group A league encounter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with skipper Harbhajan Singh bowling an economical spell and Mandeep Singh blasting an unbeaten 86.

Batting first, Vidarbha were bowled out for 218 in 49.3 overs with Ambati Rayudu scoring 86 off 109 balls. He hit six boundaries and three sixes.

Punjab pacers Manpreet Gony (2/50) and Siddharth Kaul (4/33 in 10 overs) bowled well first up while skipper Harbhajan was the most economical among the bowlers giving away 29 runs in 10 overs getting Apoorv Wankhede's wicket in the bargain.

In reply, Punjab knocked off the runs with 53 balls to spare with Mandeep anchoring the chase hitting nine boundaries and two sixes.

Former India A player Manan Vohra also hit 50 while current India U-19 limited overs captain Abhishek Sharma struck 46 off 37 balls at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Summarised Scores:

Group A:

Match 1: Vidarbha 218 in 49.3 overs (Ambati Rayudu 86, Ganesh Sathish 42, Siddharth Kaul 4/33, Harbhajan Singh 1/29) vs Punjab 219 in 41.3 overs (Mandeep Singh 86 no, Manan Vohra 50, Abhishek Sharma 46). Punjab won by 6 wickets.

Match 2: Baroda 259/9 in 50 overs (Deepak Hooda 119, Kedar Devdhar 77, Irfan Pathan 6, Karn Sharma 2/51) vs Railways 229 in 46.4 overs (Saurabh Wakaskar 58, Krunal Pandya 3/32, Hardik Pandya 2/47, Irfan Pathan 2/30). Baroda won by 30 runs.

Match 3: Odisha 229 in 47.5 overs (Sandeep Pattanaik 91, Anurag Sarangi 77, Joginder Sharma 2/47, Mohit Sharma 2/33) vs Haryana 230/5 in 48.2 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 83, Rahul Tewatia 62 no). Haryana won by 5 wickets.

Group B:

Match 1: Tamil Nadu: 314 for 8 in 50 overs (Dinesh Karthik 118; Ahish Nehra 4/39) vs Delhi: 272 allout in 46.4 overs (D Shorey 57, Gautam Gambhir 51; W Antony Dhas 3/52). Tamil Nadu beat Delhi by 42 runs

Match 2: Maharashtra: 376 for 7 in 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 132; PP Jaiswal 2/82) vs Himachal Pradesh: 351 allout in 48.5 overs (P CHopra 100; JP Zope 4/60, SS MUndhe 3/75). Maharashtra beat Himachal Pradesh by 25 runs

Match 3: Kerela: 233 for 9 in 50 overs (Salman Nizar 82 not out;AK Sarkar 3/41) vs Tripura: 235 for 8 in 49.2 overs (Gurinder Singh 61; Krishna Kumar 2/36). Tripura beat  Kerela by 2 wickets 

Group C:

Match 1: Mumbai: 273 for 9 in 50 overs (Aditya Tare 83, Siddhesh Lad 64; Chirag Parmar 4/42) vs Gujarat: 175 all out in 41.4 overs (Priyank Panchal 32; Shivam Malhotra 3/49). Mumbai beat Gujarat by 98 runs

Match 2: Andhra: 225 for 8 in 50 overs (DB Ravi Teja 43; Pragyan Ojha 2/33, Anustup Majumdar 2/38) vs Bengal 226 for 6 in 48.5 overs (Shreevats Goswami 66, Anustup Majumdar 46 not out; D Swaroop Kumar 2/42). Bengal beat Andhra by 4 wickets

Match 3: Rajasthan: 212 all out in 49.1 overs (Ashok Bhudania 38; Puneet Datey 3/25) vs  Madhya Pradesh 213 for 7 in 40 overs (Harpreet Singh 45 not out; Puneet Yadav 2/10). Madhya Pradesh beat Rajasthan by 3 wickets