‘Fearless’ J&K create history, enter knockouts

J&K captain Shubham Pundir. Pic/Atul Kamble

Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) outclassed Uttarakhand by nine wickets in their last Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group D game at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. J&K, who won five out of their six league games with 20 points, created history and earned their knockouts qualification by securing a second place in the group after Punjab (24 points).

Put into bat, Uttarakhand posted 251-6 with Priyanshu Khanduri scoring 97 (9x4, 1x6). For J&K, pacer Auqib Nabi claimed 3-48.

J&K secured a convincing win in 42.2 overs thanks to opener Vivrant Sharma's unbeaten 154 (18x4, 6x6) "This was made possible because of just one word - fearless…only because of our fearless attitude," J&K captain Shubham Pundir told mid-day when asked about the achievement. The J&K players celebrated their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout entry with a special cheer and dance at Wankhede. Pundir added: "We didn't play extraordinarily. We were playing with our game plans and it executed well. It's a nice feeling to make it to the knockouts. We just want to continue with the same momentum in the next phase of the tournament. We are going [to Ahmedabad] to win the final." The knockout round will start on Nov 26.

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