Yuvraj Singh Powers Punjab to Vijay Hazare Semifinals
Punjab will face Odisha in the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare trophy after Yuvraj Singh and Gurkeerat Singh Mann hit fifties to defeat Railways by five wickets.
Delightful half-centuries from Yuvraj Singh and Gurkeerat Singh Mann helped Punjab outplay Railways by five wickets and enter the Vijay Harzare one-day tournament semi-finals, here today.
Chasing 243 at the Motibaug Cricket Ground, the Harbhajan Singh-led side rode a 75-run fourth-wicket partnership between Yuvraj (56) and Gurkeerat (56 not out) to achieve the target in 47.2 overs.
Sharing the new ball with Anureet Singh, medium-pacer Amit Mishra did pose a challenge to the Punjab chase by picking up three wickets but the top and the middle-order stood up to the test.
Still eyeing a 2015 World Cup berth, out-of-favour Indian southpaw Yuvraj struck five fours and four sixes in his 52-ball stay while Gurkeerat hit seven boundaries in his 54-ball knock.
Amitoze Singh (43), Manan Vohra (32) and Mandeep Singh (32)
also came up with useful contributions.
Earlier put into bat, Railways suffered from lack of partnerships but No.3 batsman Anustup Majumdar ensured that the Mahesh Rawat-led side reached a respectable 242 for nine in 50 overs.
Punjab medium-pacer Baltej Singh was the wrecker-in-chief with a five-wicket haul and alongwith pace spearhead Sandeep Sharma hurt the Railways batting-order time and again.
Brief Scores: Railways 242/9 in 50 overs (Anustup Majumdar 76, Asad Ullah Khan Pathan 31; Baltej Singh 5-33) Punjab 247/5 in 47.2 overs (Yuvraj Singh 56, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 56 not out; Amit Mishra 3-42). Semi-final lineup: Punjab vs Odisha.