Jharkhand, Hyderabad in semis

Bengaluru, October 15 

Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy picked up a four-wicket haul as Jharkhand beat Maharashtra by eight wickets in a rain-hit match to enter the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The pace duo of Rahul Shukla (3/35) and Varun Aaron (2/47) provided early breakthroughs before Roy (4/32) ran through the  middle and lower order with a career-best effort to dismiss Maharashtra for 181 in 42.2 overs. Rohit Motwani (52) and captain Rahul Tripathi (47) steadied the ship after Maharashtra lost four wickets for 72 runs.

Jharkhand’s chase was halted in the sixth over due to rain, reducing the target to 174 runs in 47 overs before it was revised to 127 runs in 34 overs.

It was a comfortable ride for Jharkhand, who were 89/2 in 27 overs when the target was revised for the second time. Shasheem Rathour (53*) and Saurabh Tiwary (29*) ensured Jharkhand got home comfortably with 10 balls to spare.

In another quarterfinal, Hyderabad beat Andhra Pradesh by 14 runs. Bavanaka Sandeep top-scored for Hyderabad with 96 off 97 balls as his team posted 281/8 in 50 overs. Sandeep upstaged Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari, whose 95 off 99 balls went in vain with Andhra managing 267/9 in 50 overs.    Hyderabad will face Mumbai in the first semifinal on October 17, while Jharkhand will face Delhi in the second semifinal on October 18. — PTI  

Brief scores

• Maharashtra: 181 all out in 42.2 overs (Rohit Motwani 52; Anukul Roy 4/32, Rahul Shukla 3/35); Jharkhand: 127/2 in 32.2 overs (Shasheem Rathour 53*) 
• Hyderabad: 281/8 in 50 overs (Bavanaka Sandeep 96; B Ayyappa 2/38); Andhra Pradesh: 267/9 in 50 overs (Hanuma Vihari 95, Ricky Bhui 52; Mohammed Siraj 3/50). 

Fanning love: Cricket fans are getting more ambitious and adventurous. A few days back, a couple of Virat Kohli fans forced their way on to the ground and took a selfie with the reluctant skipper. On Sunday, a Rohit Sharma fan went a step further.  During the Mumbai-Bihar match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he invaded the pitch, touched Rohit’s feet, hugged him, and then planted a kiss on his cheeks. Rohit, of course, wouldn’t have liked it but his wife Ritika Sajdeh took it sportingly.  “You and I both have competition,” she posted a message to Rohit’s India teammate Yuzvendra Chahal on Instagram. Twitter