Vijay Hazare Trophy: Shreyas Iyer makes strong comeback

JAIPUR: Shreyas Iyer more or less passed the fitness test for the forthcoming New Zealand ODI series cracking a fine 53-ball 82 against Himachal Pradesh at the Jaipuria Vidyalaya ground here on Tuesday.

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Named vice-captain for the three-match ODI series subject to fitness, Iyer wasted no time in announcing his comeback, coming out all guns blazing in a 33-over clash delayed due to dense fog, as star-studded Mumbai posted 299/9.




Yet, chasing a daunting 300, Himachal managed to give their mighty rivals, with six India players in their ranks, a big scare, falling just seven short after being dismissed for 292 a couple of balls to spare.

With this win, both Mumbai and Punjab (20 points each) have qualified for the knockouts from Elite Group C.

Earlier, the newly-appointed Mumbai skipper, standing in for the injured Shardul Thakur, was fortunate after being dropped twice early — when on 2 and 4 — at first slip fielder by Innesh Mahajan off pacer Rohit Kumar. But he quickly shrugged that off and began playing fluently.


Coming out to bat in the 17th over with Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) and Sarfaraz Khan (21) back in the pavilion, Iyer built the innings with Musheer Khan. His innings was laced with 10 boundaries and three sixes at a strike rate of 154.72. Iyer and Musheer Khan rapidly stitched together a partnership of 82 runs off 54 balls. After opener Musheer departed for a 51-ball 73, Iyer found Suryakumar Yadav (24: 18b, 1x4, 2x6) for a 65-run stand off 39 balls.

In reply, with Himachal needing 25 in the last two overs, fell seven runs short.


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