Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mumbai storm into SF

Speedster Tushar Deshpande bags fifer to dismiss Bihar for a paltry 69 runs; opener Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 33 ensures target is achieved in 13 overs

MS Dhoni was the man who struggled for runs in the Asia Cup while Rohit Sharma made merry with the bat. But come a chance to play a domestic tournament and get some runs and batting time in, it was the in-form Rohit who turned up to play for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts here in Bangalore yesterday, while Dhoni, according to Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar, decided against taking up a youngster's place in the playing XI after the team had done so well to top Group 'C' in the League stage and reach the quarter-finals. Jharkhand are to take on Maharashtra today.

Tough travel for Mumbai lads
To boot, Rohit's Mumbai weren't even playing in the city, their up and down travel to the picturesque Just Cricket Academy ground, which is around 25 kms from the City Centre, taking up almost as much time as the match itself, what with Plate Group toppers Bihar bowled out for a mere 69. The game lasted all of 186 minutes but at least Rohit (33 not out, 43b, 3x4, 2x6) got some batting in. He can blame the Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer and medium pacer Tushar Deshpande for the limited time out in the middle. For Iyer chose to bowl first on winning the toss and then Deshpande wreaked havoc with a telling five-wicket haul (9-1-23-5). Chasing 70 for a place in the semis, Mumbai romped home in the 13th over.

B'day boy Gambhir hits ton
At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it was all about left being right for Delhi in their quarterfinal against neighbours Haryana. First left-arm seamer Kulwant Khejorliya returned highly impressive figures of 10-0-31-6, which included a hat trick, and then their skipper Gautam Gambhir celebrated his 37th birthday with a typically busy 104 (72b, 16x4) as Delhi easily staved off the challenge posted by Haryana. Chasing 230 for a win after Khejorliya proved more than a handful with the new and old ball, Delhi got there with five wickets and 64 balls to spare.

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