Dhoni’s Jharkhand qualify for Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout

Kalyani (West Bengal), March 6 (IANS): Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Jharkhand left it till late but in the end qualified for the knockout stages of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a six-wicket win over Jammu and Kashmir at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground here on Monday.

The fact that the Services registered a win against Hyderabad helped Jharkhand make the last-eight stage.

In a low-scoring affair, the Services won by five wickets to finish four points adrift of qualification after they first bundled Hyderabad out for just 88.

The Services attained the target and scored 92/5 in just 20.2 overs to eleminate Hyderabad from the tournament, which started the game at second place.

Coming to Jharkhand’s tie, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem returned best figures of 5/42 to bowl Jammu and Kashmir out for a paltry 184 in 43 overs.

Owais Shah top-scored for Parvez Rasool-led side with a defiant 59 off 106 balls.

In reply, top-order batsman Kumar Deobrat engineered a strokeful 78 off 94 deliveries, his innings laced with five fours and four sixes.

Dhoni put the finishing touches with 19 off 17 balls, hitting two fours and a six.

In-form Saurabh Tiwary also continued in rich vein scoring a run-a-ball 30, tonking two huge sixes.