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Jurel ton propels UP into Vijay Hazare quarters
Dhruv Jurel's century led Uttar Pradesh to a five-wicket win over Bengal, securing their spot in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finals.
Lucknow: Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel struck his second List A century of the season to steer former champions Uttar Pradesh to the top of Elite Group B and the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finals with a five-wicket win over Bengal at Rajkot on Thursday.
UP finished the league phase with a seventh straight win in the eight-team group.
Jurel, who was part of the India team in the recent ODI home series win over South Africa but couldn’t make his debut, smashed 123 (96b, 9x4, 5x6) as Uttar Pradesh, chasing Bengal’s 269, eased to 272/5 in 42.2 overs.
It was the 24-year-old’s fourth century this season, after unbeaten knocks of 132 and 127 for India A in the first-class game against South Africa A last November. In this Vijay Hazare, his scores read 80, 67, 160*, 17, 55, 56 and 123.
Uttar Pradesh restricted Bengal despite the absence of spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has joined the ODI squad for the New Zealand series, and chasing down the target never looked difficult for Uttar Pradesh at the Sanosara Cricket Ground ‘B’.
Last match’s centurion Abhishek Goswami (4) fell in the second over, but in-form Aryan Juyal, a keeper-batter, and Jurel, who kept wicket, added 132 runs for the second wicket. Juyal scored a 65-ball 56 (7x4), his 10th List A half-century, before being bowled by Ankit Mishra.
Jurel, until he was run out in the 35th over, looked aggressive in his approach while adding 60 runs for the third wicket with Priyam Garg (24 -32b, 3x4). He then stitched a 31-run partnership for the fifth wicket with skipper and top finisher Rinku Singh, who remained unbeaten on 37 (26 b - 3x4, 2x6).
Bengal pacer Mohammed Shami conceded 53 runs in seven overs taking one wicket while Akash Deep took 1/27. Ankit Sharma and Rohit Kumar took the other two wickets.
It was a good toss to win for Uttar Pradesh as pacers Kunal Tyagi (1/55) and Karan Chaudhary (2/41) did well with the new ball, removing the top three Bengal batters, openers Karan Lal (5), skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (28) and Anustup Mazumdar (13), in quick succession to leave Bengal struggling at 61/3 within the Powerplay.
Sudip Gharami and Shahbaz Ahmed tried their best to rally Bengal, stitching together 89 runs for the fourth wicket. However, Jurel took a brilliant catch behind the stumps to remove Ahmed (43, 54b 3x4) off Zeeshan Ansari, who with fellow leg spinner Vipraj Nigam then made things difficult for the other batters, sharing five wickets to dismiss Bengal for 269 in 45.1 overs.
Gharami top-scored with 94 in 106 balls (12x4, 1x6) while Akash Deep hit a 16-ball 33 (1x4, 4x6). Ansari finished with 3/33 to stay on top in the overall bowlers’ chart with 21 wickets at an average of 14.33. Nigam bagged 2/36 and Rinku Singh 1/41.
In the quarters, Uttar Pradesh will take on Saurashtra in Bengaluru on January 12.
