Saurashtra win against UP in Vijay Hazare QF

Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh's impressive run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy came to an unfortunate end as they lost to Saurashtra by 17 runs via the VJD (V Jayadavan) method in a rain-affected quarter-final at BCCI COE ground-2 on Monday. VJD is a statistical method for setting revised targets in rain affected limited- overs cricket matches. UP were put into bat and piled up a competitive 310 for 8 in their allotted 50 overs. However, persistent rain during Saurashtra's chase curtailed play, and the VJD method was eventually applied, handing Saurashtra a 17-run victory and a place in the semi-finals.Chasing the target, Saurashtra suffered an early setback with opener Vishwarajsinh Jadeja departing for 9. Thereafter, wicket keeper-captain Harvik Desai and Prerak Mankad steadied the innings with a 133-run partnership for the second wicket. Mankad was stumped by Aryan Juyal off Prashant Veer after scoring a brisk 67 off 66 balls, laced with 7 fours and 2 sixes, while Desai contributed 60 runs from 67 deliveries.Sammar Gajjar (14) was dismissed by Vipraj Nigam, with Priyam Garg taking the catch, leaving Saurashtra at 162 for 3. Desai then found able support from Chirag Jani, batting aggressively as the skipper went on to complete a fine century off 116 balls, which included 8 boundaries and 2 sixes. Soon after, rain interrupted the play and no further action was possible, forcing officials to determine the result through the VJD method in Saurashtra's favour.