Vijay Hazare Trophy: Harshal Patel bowls Haryana to Vijay Hazare Trophy title
Rajkot, Dec 16: 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 here 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.
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)
Rajasthan 257 in 48 overs (Abhijit Tomar 106, Kunal Singh Rathore 79, Harshal Patel 3/49, Sumit Kumar 3/34).
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐚 are WINNERS of the #VijayHazareTrophy 2023-24! 🙌
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 16, 2023
Congratulations to the Ashok Menaria-led unit on winning the #VijayHazareTrophy 🏆 👏@IDFCFIRSTBank | #Final
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/0ub38RC4x8 pic.twitter.com/2wQri6HS0Y
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta accuses Mamata Banerjee of stalling SIR; TMC hits back
Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
