Tomar stars with a century as Rajasthan sends TN packing

Abhijeet Tomar starred in Rajasthan’s win over Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy pre-quarterfinal in Vadodara on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Abhijeet Tomar’s superbly-paced century (111, 125b, 12×4, 4×6) and a disciplined all-round bowling effort powered Rajasthan to a 19-run win over Tamil Nadu in the pre-quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here at the Kotambi Stadium on Thursday.

Asked to bat first, Rajasthan was bowled out for 267 despite Tomar’s heroics and skipper Mahipal Lomoror’s breezy half-century (60, 49b, 3×4, 4×6) at the top of the order. The duo forged a 160-run alliance for the second wicket off just 132 balls and laid the platform for a big total.

However, Varun Chakaravarthy (five for 52) bowled TN back into the contest, running through Rajasthan’s batting line-up as he scalped his fourth List A five-wicket haul.

In reply, TN got off to a flyer when N. Jagadeesan (65) smashed pacer Aman Singh Shekawat for six boundaries in the second over. The five-time champion was in complete control, managing 70 for two in the first PowerPlay.

Even though Rajasthan dried up the runs through their spinners once the field spread out, Jagadeesan and B. Indrajith kept the asking rate in check.

But a spate of soft dismissals saw the southern side squander their advantage. Jagadeesan first lofted left-arm spinner Ajay Kookna straight to long-off before Indrajith’s half-hearted ramp off Shekhawat went straight to the third-man fielder.

Vijay Shankar (49) and S. Mohamed Ali (34) got the chase back on track during their 51-run partnership for the fifth wicket. However, against the run of play, Mohamed Ali set off for a non-existent single from the non-striker’s end and ran himself out. It was the opening Rajasthan needed to close out the contest and set-up a quarterfinal clash against Vidarbha on Sunday.

Earlier, Tomar, who was dropped on zero, was watchful in the first ten overs before unleashing his full range of strokes. The Rajasthan opener used his reach to hit through the line and punished anything short by using the cut shot to good effect against the tweakers. Just when Rajasthan looked set for a big total, Varun struck thrice in three overs to turn the tide in his team’s favour. Lomror’s side lost its last seven wickets for 58 runs to be bowled out in the 48th over. But in the end, Rajasthan had enough on the board to prevail.

Brief scores: Rajasthan 267 in 47.3 overs (Abhijeet Tomar 111, Mahipal Lomror 60, Varun Chakaravarthy 5/52) bt Tamil Nadu 248 in 47.1 overs (N. Jagadeesan 65, Vijay Shankar 49, Aman Singh Shekawat 3/60).

Haryana 298/9 in 50 overs (Parth Vats 62, Nishant Sindhu 64, Sumit Kumar 41 n.o., Mohammed Shami 3/61) bt Bengal 226 in 43.1 overs (Abhishek Porel 57, Parth Vats 3/33).