Himmat hits ton as Delhi beat Andhra by 73 runs to inch towards quarters

Young Himmat Singh smashed his maiden List A ton as Delhi comfortably beat Andhra by 73 runs in a group B encounter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday.

With this victory, Delhi took a big stride towards quarter-final berth from the group as they now lead the points table with 18 from six games.

It was Himmat's unbeaten 75-ball-102, laced with nine fours and four sixes, that made the difference as Delhi scored 314 for 5 after being put into bat. Unmukt Chand (62) and Nitish Rana (52) also helped themselves to half centuries.

In reply, Andhra managed 241 all out in 49.5 overs with a collective effort from the bowlers.

Left-arm seamer Kulwant Khejroliya (2/29 in 6 overs), Pawan Negi (2/41 in 10 overs) and Nitish Rana (2/9 in 2 overs) did bulk of the damage.

Earlier, Delhi started in a whirlwind fashion with Chand and Gambhir adding 75 runs for the opening stand. After his brilliant 151 against Kerala, skipper Gambhir scored 37 while Chand's 62 off 80 balls had nine fours and a six.

However, left-handed Rana and Himmat added 97 runs in 14.4 overs. Rana's run-a-ball 52 had two fours and three huge sixes.

Once Pranshu Vijayaran (8) was dismissed, Himmat upped the ante in company of Lalit Yadav (23 off 14 balls) as the duo added 56 in 5.3 overs to take Delhi past 300-run mark.

India discard Karn Sharma was the bowler who suffered most in the hands of Rana-Himmat pair as he went for 94 runs in 10 wicket-less overs.

Andhra were never in the chase as Gambhir used as many as eight bowlers.

DB Prashanth (54 off 69 balls) was the only significant scorer for Andhra. Former India U-19 captain Ricky Bhui contributed 48 while India prospect Kona Bharat (2) was trapped leg-before by Khejroliya.

Brief Scores:
Group B
Delhi 314/5 (Himmat Singh 102 no off 75 balls, Nitish Rana 52 off 52 balls, Unmukt Chand 62 off 80 balls)
Chattisgarh 212 in 49.5 overs (Harpreet Bhatia 43, Anurag Sarangi 3/22)
Kerala 189/6 (VA Jagadeesh 62 off 92 balls, Vishnu Vinod 34 off 22 balls, PS Sairam 2/22)