Rajasthan faced Tamil Nadu in the second pre-quarterfinal of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 at the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium in Vadodara on Thursday, January 9. Tamil Nadu captain Shai Kishor won the toss and decided to invite Rajasthan to bat first.
Abhijit Tomar provided a flying start to Rajasthan, but his opening partner Sachin Yadav fell cheaply for just four runs, but their captain Mahipal Lomror played a brilliant innings against Tamil Nadu. After Rajasthan lost an early wicket, Abhijeet steadied the innings with a crucial partnership with Mahipal.
Abhijit Tomar’s century and Mahipal Lomror’s fifty propel Rajasthan to 267 in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 Pre-Quarterfinal
The 29-year-old right-handed batter played a composed yet aggressive innings, scoring 111 off 125 balls with 12 boundaries and a six. Tomar’s century came off 107 balls, showcasing his ability to balance aggression with caution and keep the scoreboard ticking.
On the other hand, Lomror’s rapid 60 off 49 balls provided excellent support to the Rajasthan opener, as the pair added over 100 runs for the third wicket. Their smart running and timely boundaries frustrated Tamil Nadu’s bowlers and helped Rajasthan recover from an early setback.
However, the wickets were falling from the other ends, as the Rajasthan wicketkeeper-batter Kartik Sharma could only add valuable 35 runs off 28 balls while the rest of the line-up, except for Samarpit Joshi (15), was dismissed for the single-digit score against Tamil Nadu.
Narayan Jagdeesan’s efforts go in vain as Rajasthan beats Tamil Nadu by 19 runs
However, the skipper Mahipal Lomror’s fifty and Abhijit Tomar’s century took Rajasthan to 267 runs on the board in the second pre-quarterfinal of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 in Vadodara. For Tamil Nadu, Varun Chakravarthy shined with the ball, taking a five-wicket haul against Rajasthan. Captain Sai Kishore and Sandeep Warrier also supported with two wickets each against Rajasthan.
Chasing the 268-run target, Tamil Nadu had a poor start, but the opening batter Narayan Jagdeesan’s 65 runs off 52 balls and the number three batter Baba Indrajith’s 35 runs off 55 balls, followed by Vijay Shankar’s 49 runs off 69 balls, helped the side recover against Rajasthan.
However, in the 35th over, a little confusion between Mohamed Ali and Vijay Shakar shifted the entire momentum in favor of Rajasthan in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 quarterfinal. Ali and Vijay made the blunder against Aniket Choudhary, as Deepak Hooda’s sharp throw from the cover and the bowler’s instant reflexes ended the non-striker’s innings at 34 runs.
Vijay Shankar’s selfishness and Deepak Hooda’s brilliant fielding steal show
Vijay Shankar showed the intent to steal the single but kept looking at the ball while Mohamed Ali already marched. Meantime, Hooda stopped the ball while sliding in the field and threw towards the bowler Aniket Choudhary, who perfectly grabbed it to light up the stumps before Ali crossed the line.
Later, Aniket removed Sanjay Yadav for just two runs in the 37th over to entirely shift the game in Rajasthan’s favor. Sanjay was just clueless about Aniket’s delivery, and the wicketkeeper grabbed easy catch to end his stay.
Superb fielding, excellent run out ✅
Snorter ✅Deepak Hooda & Aniket Choudhary produce moments of brilliance to get two quick wickets 👌#VijayHazareTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/pSVoNE63b2 pic.twitter.com/yzsLDYSvX1
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 9, 2025
Later, Sai Kishore (13) and Varun Chakravarthy (18) tried to get Tamil Nadu over the line, but Rajasthan eventually won the thrilling encounter by 19 runs in Vadodara. Aman Singh Rajendra Singh Shekhawat finished with three wickets, while Aniket Choudhary and Kukna Ajay Singh snared two wickets each, and Khaleel Ahmed got one against Tamil Nadu.