Vijay Hazare Trophy: Iyer, Aman Rao, Vishnu Vinod shine with bat, some big names flounder

New Delhi [India], January 6 : Shreyas Iyer made a strong comeback to competitive cricket with a blazing 53-ball 82 for Mumbai against Himachal Pradesh, while India's ODI-Test skipper Shubman Gill struggled in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday, scoring just 11 runs against Goa.
The real stars of the day were uncapped players Aman Rao, who smashed a double century (200* off 154) for Hyderabad vs Bengal, and Vishnu Vinod, who scored an impressive 162* off 84 for Kerala vs Puducherry.
Mumbai vs HP: In Jaipur, Mumbai edged past Himachal Pradesh. Shivam Dube's dramatic two-wicket haul in the final over secured a thrilling seven-run win for Shreyas Iyer-led Mumbai over Himachal Pradesh in the VHT. Himachal Pradesh put up a strong fight, but ultimately fell short of the target of 300 runs, finishing with 292 all out.
For Mumbai, Iyer (82) and Musheer Khan (73) were the stars with the bat, while star batters Suryakumar Yadav (24 in 18) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (15 in 18) failed to score big. With the ball, Dube grabbed four wickets to restrict Himachal Pradesh to 292.
Punjab vs Goa: In another fixture in Jaipur, Punjab defeated Goa with ease. India's ODI-Test skipper Gill (11) failed to score however, it did not affect Punjab, as they chased down the target of 212 with ease against Goa. Punjab's Harnoor Singh remained not out on 94, while Naman Dhir also made an excellent 68.
Prabhudessai and Lalit Yadav made fifties for Goa, helping them reach 211 before being bowled out. Star seamer Arshdeep Singh was again among the wickets column for Punjab as he grabbed two wickets.
Hyderabad vs Bengal: In Rajkot, Hyderabad secured an outstanding 107-run victory over Bengal. Hyderabad's Aman Rao smashed a double century (200* in 154 balls, with 12 fours and 13 sixes) along with a fifty from Gahlaut Rahul Singh, which helped Hyderabad to post 352/5. For Bengal, Mohammed Shami scalped three wickets, however, he conceded 70 runs from his 10-over spell.
Mohammed Siraj starred for Hyderabad, outshining his counterpart Mohammed Shami. Siraj completed his spell with figures of 4/58. His efforts helped Hyderabad to a big win over Bengal. All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed (108* in 113 balls with nine fours and four sixes) was the lone warrior for Bengal as they were bundled out for 245.
Kerala vs Puducherry: In Ahmedabad, Kerala secured a comfortable 8-wicket win over Puducherry. Vishnu Vinod stole the show for Kerala, smashing an unbeaten 162 off 84 balls, while Baba Aparajith chipped in with an unbeaten 63.
Despite Sanju Samson's early dismissal for 11, Kerala cruised to a comfortable 8-wicket win over Puducherry, chasing down the target of 248 in just 29 overs. Vinod's explosive knock featured 13 fours and 14 sixes, earning him the Player of the Match award.
Karnataka vs Rajasthan: In Ahmedabad, Karnataka defeated Rajasthan to secure a massive win by 150 runs. Karnataka dominated Rajasthan with a massive 150-run win, thanks to Mayank Agarwal's century and Prasidh Krishna's five-wicket haul.
Agarwal scored 100 off 107 balls, while Devdutt Padikkal fell just short of a century with 91 off 82 balls. KL Rahul also scored 25 in 28 balls, with four boundaries, failing to capitalise on his start. Karnataka posted 324/7 on the board.
Paddikal stands as the second-highest run-getter so far with 605 runs in six matches at an average of 100.83, with four centuries and a fifty. He is now the only batsman in tournament's history to have three different seasons with 600+ runs, with 737 run season in 2020/21 and 609 run season in 2019/20 being a proof of the consistency he brings to the tournament.
Prasidh Krishna's 5/36 was instrumental in restricting Rajasthan to 174 all out.
Gujarat vs Odisha: In Bengaluru, Gujarat thrashed Odisha, securing a 233-run victory. Gujarat crushed Odisha by a massive 233 runs, courtesy of Chintan Gaja's stunning 6-wicket haul, while JK Bhatt took two wickets and Axar Patel's impressive 73.
Patel's innings, combined with Urvil Patel's 64 and Ahaan Poddar's 64, propelled Gujarat to a whopping 333/6.
UP vs Vidharbha: In Rajkot, Rinku Singh's Uttar Pradesh is on a roll, securing its fifth consecutive win in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. They posted a daunting 339/5, courtesy of Rinku's explosive 57* off 30 balls, and Vidarbha couldn't quite keep up, finishing with 285/9.
Apart from Rinku, Abhishek Goswami slammed a hundred while Dhruv Jurel (56) and Priyam Garg (67) smashed fifties. Kuldeep Yadav was the star with the ball for Uttar Pradesh, scalping three wickets.
Chhattisgarh vs Maharashtra: In Jaipur, Chhattisgarh pulled off a thrilling 6-run win against Maharashtra, despite Maharashtra's strong batting lineup featuring Ruturaj Gaikwad (22), Prithvi Shaw (2), and Ramakrishna Ghosh (7).
Maharashtra's chase fell short, ending at 160/8 in 31 overs, unable to surpass Chhattisgarh's total of 167.
Saurashtra vs Services: In Alur, Saurashtra posted a commanding 111-run win over Services. Saurashtra's Harvik Desai (110), Vishvaraj Jadeja (71), Prerak Mankad (53) and Ravindra Jadeja (36*) helped their side to reach 349. Chetan Sakariya and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja's three-wicket haul restricted Services to 238.
Delhi vs Railways: In Delhi's clash against Railways, Punjab Kings (PBKS) star Priyansh Arya continued his fine form, posting his fourth fifty of the tournament (80 in 41 balls) while skipper Rishabh Pant played a quickfire cameo of 24 in nine balls, with a four and three sixes as Delhi chased down 180 runs against Railways.
TN vs Tripura: During the clash between Tamil Nadu and Tripura, standout contributions from Andre Siddharth (70 in 86 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and pacer Gurjanpreet Singh (6/26), spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/23) were standout performers as Tripura was skittled out for 205 runs while pursuing TN's 260.