Vijay Hazare Trophy: Raina fires as UP crush Rajasthan

Indore:  Skipper Suresh Raina smashed an unbeaten 70 off 48 balls while Prashant Gupta made 87 as a dominant Uttar Pradesh crushed Rajasthan by eight wickets in their limited-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy (Central Zone) match in Indore on Thursday.

While Raina hit four fours and as many sixes during his belligerent knock, Gupta hit 10 boundaries during his 93-ball essay at the Emerald High School Ground.

Opting to field, Uttar Pradesh restricted Rajasthan to 198 for seven in 35 overs in a curtailed match, and then chased down the target with 21 balls to spare.

Not a single Rajasthan bowler was spared as Raina went on a rampage, carting them to all corners of the park.

Gupta was the perfect foil as he gave Raina company, scoring his runs at a quick pace.

Robin Bist (60) and skipper Ashok Menaria (53) were the two significant scorers from the Rajasthan team.

198 was not a bad total at all considering the number of overs UP had to chase down the target, but Raina's swashbuckling knock changed the equation in a matter of few overs.