Puducherry surge ahead; Chandigarh remain in fray

Arun Karthik made an unbeaten 86 as Puducherry thrashed Arunachal Pradesh by nine wickets here on Thursday to dominate the Plate Group standings of the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic one-day cricket tournament.

Arunchal Pradesh's decision to bat first in a match reduced to 43 overs because of wet outfield backfired as they were bowled out for 179 in 42.3 overs at the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy.

Rahul Dalal top-scored for Arunachal Pradesh with a 47-ball 40 while wicketkeeper Uvais Ahmad made 39.

Medium pacer Ashith Rajiv returned with 3/42, while veteran Vinay Kumar, Suresh Kumar and Sagar Udeshi chipped in with two wickets apiece for Puducherry.

Arun Karthik and S Karthik set up the chase for Puducherry with a 93-run opening partnership.

Arun Karthik scored his runs of just 68 balls. He hit 10 fours and two sixes during his entertaining knock.

S Karthik made 52 from 55 balls (7x4s) before being dismissed by Techi Neri (1/34).

Arun Karthik and skipper Damoderan Rohit (31 not out) then joined hands and sealed the issue in 27.1 overs.

Puducherry now have five wins from seven matches to be on top of the table with 24 points, six points clear of Chandigarh who played one match less.

Chandigarh, meanwhile, kept their slim hopes alive with a thumping 10-wicket win over Mizoram at the Kasiga School Cricket Ground.

Opting to bat, Mizoram put up a shoddy batting display to be bundled out for a paltry 87 in just 39.3 overs.

Left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma (3/21) was the wrecker-in-chief for Chandigarh.

Another left-arm spinner Gurinder Singh was at his tidy best, returning with fine figures of 9.3-2-9-2 as Mizoram innings lasted for just 39.3 overs.

Skipper Manan Vohra (40 not out) and Arjun Azad (46 not out) put up an unbeaten stand as Chandigarh cantered home in just 12.5 overs.

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