Tahir, Ruhat hit double centuries

By Our Sports Reporter

CALCUTTA, JAN. 8. Defending champion Uttar Pradesh and Delhi made it to the semifinals of the Vijay Merchant Trophy after winning their respective quarterfinal matches on the basis of first innings lead here on Monday.

In the three-day semifinals beginning on Tuesday, North Zone topper Delhi takes on South Zone topper Hyderabad while Uttar Pradesh meets North Zone runner-up Punjab.

Both Delhi and Uttar Pradesh successfully overhauled the first innings targets of respective opponents - West Zone topper and last year's runner-up Mumbai and East Zone runner-up Bengal. Delhi made 382 in reply to Mumbai's 328 while Uttar Pradesh piled a huge 597 for four against Bengal's meagre total of 207.

The best show came from Uttar Pradesh batsmen Tahir Abbas and Ruhat Elahi, both of whom accounted for double hundreds to score almost all of the team's runs. The visiting team, beginning from their overnight score of 197 for three, lost only one wicket on the final day with Abbas continuing from overnight score of 71 to reach 246 while Elahi remained undefeated on 212.

In the other match, Delhi replied strongly to sail past the Mumbai score after beginning on its overnight score of 206 for four. Preetpal Singh (77) and Shekhar Dhawan (68) remained the two top scorers of the team by laying the foundation for a tall score which was successfully accomplished by the lower order.

lBrief scores:

Bengal 207 lost to Uttar Pradesh 597 for four (Tahir Abbas 246, Ruhat Elahi 212 not out).

Mumbai 328 and 78 for two lost to Delhi 382 (Preetpal Singh 77, Shekhar Dhawan 68, Gautam Yadav three for 79).

Sunday's scores:

Rajasthan 254 vs Hyderabad 524 for seven (Anup Pai 94, Prasant Peter 89, Niranjan 70, Alfred Absolem 50 not out). Hyderabad progressed on the basis of first innings lead.

Saurashtra 295 and 197 for five (Bhushan Chauhan 96, Uppal Sharma three for 26) vs Punjab 493 (Rahul Arora 195, Tarun Kanshi 88; Nirov Parekh three for 78, Sagar Paohiar three for 88). Punjab progressed on the basis of first innings lead.

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