Vijay Hazare Trophy: Deepak Hooda, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rahul Chahar lead Rajasthan to back-to-back wins

JAIPUR: Rajasthan made the light work of minnows Meghalaya with a six-wicket victory in the Vijay Hazare One-Day Trophy Group B match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

It was the third win in four matches for Mahipal Lomror-led side and second in succession after beating Himachal Pradesh in their previous encounter on Thursday.

Chasing a modest target of 167, Rajasthan romped home losing just four wickets with 104 balls remaining. Former skipper Deepak Hooda anchored the chase with an unbeaten 60 which came off 71 balls laced with five boundaries.

Captain Lomror looked good in his 36-ball 38-run knock but could not capitalize on it. Season’s find Kartik Sharma (15: 12b, 1x4, 1x6) also failed to get going after a brisk start.

Rajveer Rathore provided able support to his senior partner Hooda and remained unbeaten on 13 when the winning runs were scored.

Earlier, Meghalaya were bundled out for 166 in 42.2 overs. Barring Kishan Lyngdoh (27) and Arpit Bhatewara (26), no other batsmen offered any resistance. Medium-pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti 3-52 and leggie Rahul Chahar picked up three wickets each. Left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Ajay Singh Kukna claimed a couple of wickets apiece.

Hooda, who also took 2 catches, was named player-of-the-match. After four matches, the Rajasthan team is lying in the fourth spot with 12 points. Maharashtra lead the eight-team group with 16 points to their credit.

Brief scores

Meghalaya 166 all out in 42.2 overs (Kishan Lyngdoh 27, Arpit Bhatewara 26; Rahul Chahar 3-34, Kamlesh Nagarkoti 3-52, Manav Suthar 2-28, Ajay Singh Kukna 2-34) lost to Rajasthan 168/4 in 32.4 overs (Deepak Hooda 60 not out, Mahipal Lomror 38, Ram Chouhan 17, Abhijeet Tomar 15, Kartik Sharma 15, Rajveer Rathore 13 not out; Akash Choudhary 2-29, Adarsh Joshi 2-50) by 6 wickets.