Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mumbai maul Bihar, sail into semifinals

BENGALURU: Bihar's left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman watched Rohit Sharma score the winning runs - a boundary struck between mid-on and midwicket - and shadow practised the shot. There was little else Aman or any of his teammates could do.
As expected, Mumbai outclassed the debutants in the Vijay Hazare quarterfinal match - more of a mismatch - at the Just Cricket ground here on Sunday.Bihar were bowled out for a meagre 69 and Mumbai overhauled the target in 12.3 overs for a comprehensive nine-wicket win.
Mumbai skipper Shreyas Iyer, in damp and overcast conditions, had opted to bowl after winning the toss and Bihar's batsmen appeared clueless. Cashing in on the conditions and the opposition's inexperience, right-arm medium pacer Tushar Deshpande made merry, returning figures of 5/23. In fact, Bihar's scoreboard would have looked even sorrier had Mumbai not been a little sloppy in the field.
From there, Bihar quickly slid downhill. At 49 for five after 17 overs, Bihar, who topped the plate division, could have been more cautious. But the freefall continued and were soon reduced to 55 for eight. Only two batsmen - Babul Kumar (16, 34b, 3x4) and Rahmat Ullah (18, 32b, 1x4) - crossed the double-digit mark and their best partnership was 15 for the third wicket. Shams Mulani finished with three wickets, while Rahmat Ullah ran himself out.
Akhil Herwadkar (24, 29, 4x4) and Rohit (33 n.o., 42b, 3x4, 2x6) then appeared in no hurry with the chase. A lapse in concentration ended Herwadkar's stint with his team needing only 17 for a victory. The sparse crowd that had turned out to watch Rohit was not entirely disappointed as he treated them to a few delectable hits to the boundary.
In the other two quarterfinals on Monday, Andhra will play Hyderabad while Jharkhand face Maharashtra. Thye winner of the Andhra-Hyderabad match will play Mumbai in the semis.
Brief Scores: Bihar 69 in 28.2 overs (Tushar Deshpande 5-23, Shams Mulani-18) lost to Mumbai 70-1 in 12.3 overs (Rohit Sharma not out 33) by nine wickets.
Shaw, Rahane to play in last-four clash
Fresh from his exploits in his debut Test series for India, Prithvi Shaw is set to turn out for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semis. Ajinkya Rahane will also join the team. With Rohit Sharma set to play too, Mumbai's batting will bear a formidable look now.
Khejroliya 'tricks' Delhi into semis
A six-wicket haul from Kulwant Khejroliya, which included a hat-trick, and a century from Gautam Gambhir (104, 72b, 16x4) powered Delhi to a five-wicket win over Haryana in the Vijay Hazare quarterfinal clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
Brief scores: Haryana: 229 in 49.1 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 85, Pramod Chandila 59, Navdeep Saini 3-39, Kulwant Khejroliya 6-31) lost to Delhi: 230/5 in 39.2 overs (Gautam Gambhir 104, Dhruv Shorey 50, Nitesh Rana 37; Rahul Tewatia 3-32).