Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018

The Mumbai-Delhi final had its share of drama, for most parts, an exciting swing here, swing there contest where bowlers dictated terms, only for Mumbai to emerge victorious and win their first Vijay Hazare title since 2007 at the back of a 105 run partnership by two of their least utilized players in tournament.

There were times in the game when Delhi threatened to wrestle the control from Mumbai. Himmat Singh threatened with a 65-ball 41 before Tare's lightening quick work behind the stumps ended his stay. Suboth Bhati did too after he was caught off a no-ball. It was bizarre that Tushar Deshpande went on a celebration and extended a send-off to the batsman who had mistimed a swat to mid-off.

But all this while, Delhi was only threatening to seize control, nothing much. It was Navdeep Saini's first spell which completely turned the course of the contest. On a lively wicket, he bowled seven uninterrupted overs with the new ball - picking the wickets of Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav, the last of which was controversial.

Mumbai's much-famed top order had lost the battle to Delhi's in-form new ball duo, and left their middle order constants to pull them out of quicksand. Neither Tare nor Lad had spent enough time in the middle all through the series, with the top order doing the bulk of the job. However, when the occasion arrived, they stood up to the challenge.

Together, they took sucked away 105 runs from the target with their fifth wicket alliance, and more or less sealed the fate of the game. Dubey hit some lusty blows towards the end and took the team over the line with four wickets in hand and 91 balls to spare, to help Mumbai's to their third Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015

Parthiv Patel produced his first century in Style to give Gujarat their maiden title. A collapse after Parthiv wicket had left the issue open in giving Delhi a manageable target of 274, but Veteran RP Singh, playing his first match in the knockout stages, settled the matter with an opening burst of 4 for 23, which includes a first ball wicket of Rishabh Pant and later those of Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir.

Parthiv and Bhatt added 149 runs for the third wicket, the highest for the third wicket in his tournament. Parthiv hit 10 fours, mainly through cuts and flicks off the hips. Bhatt hit four fours and a six in his 60 off 74 balls, which took his tournament tally to 338, which is the highest for Gujarat and ninth highest overall. They were helped along by two sets of four overthrows, various fumbles and a few clumsy dives.

Delhi came back into the chase with some hope, but RP squashed it immediately. With a generous sprinkling of grey in this beard, RP might look older than his 30, but the ball is still coming out all right from his hand. The only blip on Gujarat night arrived when Bhatt dropped Unmukt Chand off the bowling of Kalaria, but he made up for it soon enough when he accepted a low offering from Gambhir at first slip.

As wickets continued to fall, the only man capable of a miraculous comeback was Chand. He played attractive shots in his 33 off 48, but once he placed Jasprit Bumrah on the contest was officially over. Negi half century managed to push the score past 100. This was Gujarat Maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title. Parthiv and RP Singh were awarded Player of the match awards.