Vijay Hazare Trophy Final Highlights:2023/24

Vijay Hazare Trophy Final Highlights:2023/24After being taken to the cleaners in his first two spells, Harshal induced a miscued lofted shot over covers from Tomar only for Sumit to pull off a stunner at mid-off. A few overs later, Harshal got Rathore to slice one in the deep and usher in Rajasthan’s long tail.
Sumit’s ability to move the ball both ways had Rajasthan reeling at 12 for three. After removing Ram Chouhan and Mahipal Lomror, Sumit got one to move in and trap Deepak Hooda leg-before, deflating the partisan crowd.

Tomar staged a 68-run resistance for the fourth wicket with Karan Lamba before giving Haryana a mighty scare with Rathore. The duo’s intent against spin could have been the difference between the sides but Harshal had other ideas.

In a pulsating Vijay Hazare Trophy final, Sumit Kumar’s ubiquitous brilliance and Harshal Patel’s flashes of inspiration scripted Haryana’s 30-run win over Rajasthan and secured the state team’s first title triumph in more than 32 years at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.
With Abhijeet Tomar and Kunal Rathore soaking the pressure of a top-order collapse with a 121-run partnership for the fifth wicket, it was fitting that Sumit and Harshal combined to dismiss the former and help Haryana claw back.
Earlier, Ankit Kumar (88, 91b, 12x4. 1x6), and captain Ashok Menaria (70, 96b, 8x4) frustrated Rajasthan with a 124-run partnership for the third wicket after losing two wickets inside nine overs.
The duo rebuilt during a 17-over phase of relentless spin bowling that yielded 78 runs. Rajasthan’s ploy of employing left-arm spinner Kukna Ajay Singh against right-hander Ankit and Hooda bringing himself into the attack to have a go at Menaria didn’t pay off.
Aniket Choudhary eventually broke the alliance as the left-arm pacer rearranged Ankit’s stumps off the first ball of his second spell.

Haryana vs Rajasthan squads

• Haryana: Ankit Kumar, Ashok Menaria, Himanshu Rana, Yashu Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mayank Shandilya, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Sumit Kumar, Dinesh Bana, Kapil Hooda, Rohit Sharma, Sarvesh Rohilla, Aman Kumar, Amit Mishra, Amit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Harshal Patel, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal.
• Rajasthan: Deepak Hooda, Mahipal Lomror, Ram Chouhan, Salman Khan, Yash Kothari, Ajay Kookna, Deepak Chahar, Karan Lamba, Kukna Ajay, Manav Suthar, Sahil Dhiwan, Abhijeet Tomar, Kunal Singh Rathore, Samarpit Joshi, Aniket Choudhary, Arafat Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar.

Harshal Patel bowled a game-changing spell with the old ball as Haryana beat Rajasthan by 30 runs in a well-contested final to lift the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Saturday. Having scored 287 for 8 in 50 overs, Haryana were given a tough fight by Rajasthan, who were cruising at 201 for 4 with opener Abhijeet Tomar (106 off 129 balls) along with Kunal Singh Rathore (79 off 65 balls) slowly taking the team towards the target. However, Harshal (3/47 in 9 overs) showed his wares by varying the pace of his deliveries in a game changing second five-over spell in which he gave away only 16 runs but picked both set batters to snuff out any chance that Rajasthan had. They were all-out for 257 in 48 overs.
No praise is enough for all-rounder Sumit Kumar (3/34 in 6 overs), who ran through Rajasthan top-order after scoring a quickfire 28 not out off 16 balls and also took a blinder inside the circle to win the 'Player of Match' as well as 'Player of Series'.

• He scored 183 runs in lower-order at over 100 strike-rate and took 18 wickets in 10 games.
• Credit must also be given to Haryana skipper Ashok Menaria, who had a good game with the bat and then marshalled his resources well, including bringing in Harshal, which turned out to be master-stroke.
• Menaria, who had once been a Rajasthan skipper, didn't indulge in any overt celebrations, after leading his adopted state to first senior national trophy in 32 years (after Ranji Trophy 1991).
• At the start of the innings, all-rounder Sumit Kumar, who opens the bowling, was lethal in his first spell as Rajasthan were quickly reduced to 12 for 3, which included wickets of two IPL regulars in Mahipal Lomror (2) and skipper Deepak Hooda (0).
• However, opener Tomar did found an ally in Karan Lamba (20) as they added 68 runs for the fourth wicket but Haryana still had the upper-hand when the latter was dismissed
• But it was left-hander Kunal Singh Rathore, who smashed 79 off 65 balls, with some mighty heaves on the on-side to keep them in the hunt. He added 121 with Tomar and dominated the stand with five maximums.
• But once he started developing cramps and when Harshal came back for his second spell, things changed. Tomar failed to clear Sumit while trying to loft the seamer over mid-off, while Rathore was holed out in the deep at long-off.
• Earlier, after opting to bat, it was in-form Ankit Kumar (88 off 91 balls) and his veteran skipper Ashok Menaria (70 off 96 balls), who put up 124 for the third wicket to lay the foundation for a competitive score.
• Ankit, who had hit a century in the quarter-final against Bengal, was once again in his element, hitting 12 crisp boundaries and a six off Ajay Singh Kukna.
• Menaria, on the other hand, was patient as he hit eight fours, which also included some drives through on-side.
• It was all-rounders Nishant Sindhu (29 off 22 balls), Rahul Tewatia (24 off 18 balls) and Sumit Kumar (28 off 16 balls), all of whom used long handle to good effect to take Haryana pass the 285-run mark.
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• Save veteran left-arm seamer Aniket Chaudhary (4/49 in 10 overs), the only other bowler, who impressed was out of favour leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (1/39 in 9 overs).
• Brief Scores: Haryana 287/8 (Ankit Kumar 88, Ashok Menaria 70, Aniket Chaudhary 4/49) beat Rajasthan 257 in 48 overs (Abhijit Tomar 106, Kunal Singh Rathore 79, Harshal Patel 3/49, Sumit Kumar 3/34