Uttar Pradesh (UP) began its Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025 campaign with an 84-run win over Hyderabad at the Niranjan Shah Stadium here on Wednesday, thanks to its spin trio.
List-A debutants Zeeshan Ansari (four for 31) and Prashant Veer (three for 47), along with Vipraj Nigam, effected a middle-over chokehold after a collective effort from the top order had helped UP post 324 for five in its 50 overs.
Hyderabad batting mainstay Tanmay Agarwal (53, 43b, 9×4, 2×6) and skipper Rahul Singh Gahlaut’s 94-run second-wicket association had threatened to take the game away before the game turned on its head with the introduction of leg-spin. Gahlaut found deep midwicket with his release shot after a slew of plays and misses. Rahul Buddhi’s slow start deflected the pressure onto Tanmay, who fell immediately after.
Buddhi accelerated once set, but his innings was cut short on 47 when he top-edged an attempted sweep against Ansari. The lower order failed to match up to the onerous task at hand, as Hyderabad was shut out for 240.
Earlier, after being put into bat, the UP openers were sedate yet resolute, expertly countering the balls that kept low from fuller length. Abhishek Goswami (81, 81b, 10×4, 1×6) started brisker of the two, putting away to the leg-side boundary anything short on offer from the Hyderabad pacers.
The runs came more freely after the introduction of the all-rounders. Aryan Juyal (80, 96b, 9×4, 1×6), more measured in his approach, used his feet well against spinners to keep up the scoring rate. Once the openers fell, UP failed to engage top gear. Dhruv Jurel (80, 61b, 4×4, 4×6) and Rinku Singh (67, 48b, 6×4, 2×6) were made to work hard for their runs, relying on smart running between the wickets during their 87-run stand.
The short-of-a-length ploy, including change of pace deliveries, kept them quiet for a while before Jurel adjusted, accessing the boundaries square of the wicket. Rinku’s ability to pull the ball through midwicket, coupled with a few slot balls dished out at the death, helped him take the team to 324, which proved more than adequate at the end.
Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh 324/5 in 50 overs (Abhishek Goswami 81, Aryan Juyal 80, Dhruv Jurel 80, Rinku Singh 67) beat Hyderabad 240 all out in 43 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 53, Rahul Buddhi 47, Varun Goud 45, Zeeshan Ansari 4/31).
Chandigarh 208 all out in 39.5 overs (Tushar Joshi 42, Taranpreet Singh 43, Lone Nasir 4/44) lost to Jammu and Kashmir 209/0 in 37 overs (Qamran Iqbal 73 n.o., Shubham Khajuria 129 n.o.).
Assam 282 all out in 48.4 overs (Pradyun Saikia 67, Sumit Ghadigaonkar 55, Sibsankar Roy 55, Atit Sheth 4/56) lost to Baroda 283/5 in 47.5 overs (Priyanshu Moliya 72, Vishnu Solanki 88 n.o., Bhanu Pania 43 n.o.).
Vidarbha 382/5 in 50 overs (Aman Mokhade 110, Dhruv Shorey 136, R. Samarth 40) lost to Bengal 383/7 in 48.5 overs (Abishek Porel 56, Abhimanyu Easwaran 71, Sudip Gharami 68, Shahbaz Ahmed 71).
Published – December 24, 2025 09:18 pm IST
