Delhi, March 5

Punjab v Maharashtra

Punjab edged Maharashtra out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy preliminary quarterfinal in a thrilling encounter. Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Maharashtra put in a sub-par performance as they were restricted to 186 for nine wickets in 50 overs. Harbhajan Singh led the way for Punjab with impressive figures of 10-1-35-3 while Rahul Sharma took two for 45 from his 10 overs. However, Punjab stumbled in their run chase as they were soon reduced to 69 for the loss of six wickets by the Maharashtra bowlers. But Harabhajan Singh, batting at No. 8, rescued his side with an unbeaten 79 (off 94 balls) that saw Punjab reach the victory target with two wickets and 10 deliveries to spare. Taruwar Kohli (46 off 77 balls) played an important role in Punjab’s win as he gave Harbhajan solid support in an 86-run stand for the seventh wicket. For Maharashtra, left-arm medium-pacer Mohsin Sayyed was the pick of the bowlers as he finished with figures of 10-1-41-3.

Delhi v Assam

Delhi booked a place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals after they beat Assam by eight wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here in New Delhi. After winning the toss and putting the opposition in, the Delhi bowlers came up with a clinical performance to bowl Assam out for 94 in just 32.5 overs. Delhi legbreak bowler, Varun Sood, led the way with four for 36 while Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia and Pawan Negi took two wickets each. In reply, Delhi chased down the victory target with minimal fuss. Shikhar Dhawan hit an unbeaten 42 as Delhi surpassed Assam’s score in just 20.2 overs for the loss of two wickets.