Gujarat skipper and opener Priyank Panchal showed the way with a masterly 134 and set up his team’s massive 117-run victory over Andhra in the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare tournament at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground here on Monday.
Opting to bat, Panchal’s knock off 131 balls was dotted with 10 boundaries and two sixes as his knock took Gujarat to 299 for seven in 50 overs.
In response, Andhra lost wickets at regular intervals and its innings folded at 182 in 41.2 overs.
Ricky Bhui (67) was the only one who showed some resolve on a batting pitch.
Medium-pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla removed the Andhra openers and sent back skipper Hanuma Vihari for a duck to keep the rivals on the backfoot.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who scalped Bhui, finished with three wickets. In fact, the match never really rose as a contest.
Panchal was clearly the hero of the day.
He added 80 runs for the second wicket with Rahul Shah (36, 3x4), 53 for third wicket with Het Patel (28, 2x4) and another 57 with Ripal Patel (35, 2x4, 2x6) to keep Andhra at bay.
The scores: Gujarat 299 for seven in 50 overs (Priyank Panchal 134, Harishankar Reddy 3/60) bt Andhra 182 in 41.2 overs (Ricky Bhui 67, Arzan Nagwaswalla 4/30, Piyush Chawla 3/33).
