Vijay Hazare Trophy: Playing without Virat Kohli, Delhi beat Saurashtra by three wickets; Priyansh Arya, Navdeep Saini shine

Opener Priyansh Arya and middle-order batter Tejasvi Dahiya scored quick half-centuries as Delhi overcame captain Rishabh Pant’s modest return to beat Saurashtra by three wickets in a Group D Vijay Hazare Trophy match on Monday.Chasing a target of 321, Arya scored 78 off 45 balls and Tejasvi made 53 from 51 deliveries as Delhi completed the chase in 48.5 overs, losing seven wickets, at the Alur 2 ground in Bengaluru. The side played without Virat Kohli. Saurashtra earlier posted 320 for seven in 50 overs. Opener Vishvarajsinh Jadeja top-scored with 115 from 104 balls, while Ruchit Ahir added an unbeaten 95 off 65 balls.Pant had a brief stay at the crease, scoring 22 off 26 balls before being caught by Jay Gohil off Chirag Jani. Kohli, who scored a hundred and a fifty in Delhi’s first two matches, is set to rejoin the team on January 6 for the match against Railways at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.Arya and Ayush Doseja added 66 runs for the second wicket. Delhi reached 115 for two in 13.2 overs. Tejasvi later shared stands of 48 with Pant and 40 with Harsh Tyagi after the score slipped to 160 for four.After Tejasvi’s dismissal, Delhi needed 73 runs from 12 overs. Tyagi scored 49 off 45 balls and Navdeep Saini remained unbeaten on 34 as the pair took Delhi home.Delhi now lead Group D with 12 points from three matches. Earlier, Saini also picked up three wickets for 41 runs in 10 overs.