Surat: Hosts Gujarat recorded their second successive win in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating Goa by eight wickets in an Elite Group A game, on Monday.
Gujarat had started their campaign with a three-wicket win over Chhattisgarh.
Opting to bat at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Goa were bundled out for 159 in 45.4 overs, with Gujarat’s slow-left arm spinner Hardik Patel (3/34) doing the bulk of the damage.
Gujarat then chased the target in 27.4 overs with half-centuries from Priyank Panchal (57 not out off) and Bhargav Merai (57 off 55 balls).
Goa were struggling at 41/2 after losing opener Aditya Kaushik (4), who was castled by pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla (2/31).
The other opener Ishann Gadekar (18) also failed to convert his start and became slow-left arm bowler Hardik’s first scalp.
Gujarat kept making inroads and did not allow the opposition batsmen to settle down. One-down Snehal Kauthankar (23; 3×4) too failed to make it big and was trapped in front of the wicket by Hardik, leaving his side in a spot of bother at 50/3.
They lost half their side for 78 as skipper Amit Verma (15) and Suyash Prabhudessai (3) also fell cheaply. It was a patient 36 by wicket-keeper KD Eknath off 62 balls that took his team over the 120-run mark.
But pacer Nagwaswalla got his second wicket after dismissing Eknath as Goa slipped to 123/6 in the 39th over.
Darshan Misal, who came at number seven, top-scored with 44, with four boundaries and that helped them go past the 150-run mark, but was devoid of partners as Gujarat bowlers ran through Goa’s lower order.
For Gujarat, all the bowlers played their parts to perfection. Pacer Chintan Gaja (2/31) and spinner Piyush Chawla (2/32) also grabbed two wickets each.
Gujarat began the chase on a strong note, with openers Dhruv Raval (37 off 26 balls) and Panchal adding 53 for the first wicket.
Then Panchal and Bhargav Merai were involved in a 92-run stand for the second wicket and took the game away from Goa.
Brief Scores: Goa 159 (Darshan Misal 44; KD Eknath 36; Hardik Patel 3/34, Arzan Nagwaswalla 2/31) lost to Gujarat 162/2(Priyank Panchal 57 not out, Bhargav Merai 57; Deepraj Goankar 1/26, Amulya Pandrekar 1/29) by eight wickets.
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