Jaipur, Jan 6 (IANS) Stand-in captain Shreyas Iyer smashed 82 off just 53 balls as Shivam Dubey claimed three wickets to help Mumbai beat Himachal Pradesh by seven runs in a shortened 33-over match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Jaipuria Vidyalaya Ground in Jaipur on Tuesday.

Tasked to defend 10 runs in the last over, all-rounder Shivam Dubey claimed the last two wickets as Himachal Pradesh were bowled out for 292 with just two balls to spare as Mumbai won by seven runs.

Captaining the side in an important match after Shardul Thakur was ruled out of the remainder of the competition due to injury, Iyer came to the crease at a challenging moment, with Mumbai reduced to 55 for 2 following the dismissals of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan.

Shreyas and Musheer Khan then added 82 runs off 54 balls to keep the scoreboard moving. After Musheer fell for a 51-ball 73, Shreyas forged a 65-run partnership off 39 balls with Suryakumar Yadav, which helped Mumbai cross the 200-run mark in the 33-over match. The game was shortened due to a delayed start caused by dense fog.

Iyer fell in the 26th over, missing a well-deserved hundred by just 18 runs. He struck 10 fours and three sixes against Himachal Pradesh’s bowling attack. With the skipper’s fighting knock, Mumbai finished at 299/9 in 33 overs.

With a target of 300 runs set by Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh kicked off their chase with an aggressive approach, only to finish up getting bowled out for 292 after 32.4 overs. The top two openers were both dismissed without a single run on the scoreboard. Pukhraj Mann emerged as a strong stabilising factor for the innings, scoring 64 from 41 balls with good form and flow, along with the season wicket-keeper, Ankush Bains, who contributed with 53 off 39 balls.

The middle-order provided strong contributions as Mayank Dagar scored 64, including 11 boundaries, as Amanpreet Singh came out swinging hard for a quick strike rate of 200 for 42 scored off 21 balls.

Amit Kumar’s (28) and contributions from lower-order batters kept Himachal Pradesh in the game. For Mumbai, the star performer with the ball was Shivam Dube, who took 4 wickets for 68 runs, with Sairaj Patil taking 2 wickets, and Tushar Deshpande, Musheer Khan, and Shams Mulani each getting a wicket.

Hyderabad claimed their first victory of the season with a comprehensive 107-run triumph over Bengal, thanks to Aman Rao’s double century and Mohammed Siraj’s four wickets, despite a brave century from Shahbaz Ahmed.

Meanwhile, Punjab, despite Shubman Gill’s poor string of form, successfully chased down 212 runs against Goa with a significant effort, highlighted by Harnoor Singh’s 94 not out (along with Naman Dhir’s 68) as they registered a brilliant 131-run stand after coming in at No. 5.

Karnataka followed up similarly by blasting Rajasthan for 150 runs while scoring 324 runs off their 7 wickets, with Mayank Agarwal’s (100) and Devdutt Padikkal’s (91) contributions leading to Prasidh Krishna taking five wickets as he wrecked the opposition.

Gujarat’s efforts were the best of the day, dominating Odisha by 233 runs after posting 333 runs for six wickets, thanks to Axar Patel’s 73 and half-centuries from Urvil Patel and Ahaan Poddar, and a six-wicket performance by C.T. Gaja.

Kerala proved they are capable of producing big scores with their chase of Pondicherry’s target of 248 runs with a stunning showing from Vishnu Vinod, who scored an incredible 162 runs, while Baba Aparajith added 63 not out, despite Sanju Samson’s early departure.

In Bengaluru, Delhi completed a six-wicket win over Railways, with Priyansh Arya’s explosive 80 off 41 balls, supported by brisk cameos from Rishabh Pant and Nitish Rana, capping off a high-scoring and action-packed day in the tournament.

–IANS

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