Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20: Preview – October 10

October 10 is a busy day for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 with as many as 12 matches scheduled three each from Groups A, B, C, and Plate Group.

Group A (at Alur): Karnataka vs Mumbai, Andhra vs Hyderabad, Chhattisgarh vs Jharkhand

A match between Karnataka and Mumbai is always exciting and although Karnataka are at the top and Mumbai are at the eighth spot, the table is so close that a Mumbai win can take them to the top. Karnataka have won four out of their five matches and players like KL Rahul and Manish Pandey are in good form. Mumbai thrashed Goa in their last match to win by 130 runs and it is expected to be a close match today. Hyderabad are standing at the second place on the table and expected to claim an easy win against Andhra who need a win desperately to keep their hopes alive. The match between Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand can be another close one. Only two points are separating the teams with Jharkhand playing one match less than Chhattisgarh.

Group B (at Vadodara): Baroda vs Maharashtra, Delhi vs Odisha, Haryana vs Himachal Pradesh

Both Baroda and Maharashtra are yet to win a single match in the tournament. Baroda have four points from two abandoned matches and Maharashtra have eight points from four abandoned matches. Both teams will hope to have a full match today and bring their tournament on track with a win. Both Delhi and Odisha are in the middle of the table with quite a few abandoned matches and will look to press for a win when they face each other. Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have a couple of wins to their names so far. However, where Himachal have won their last two matches, Haryana have lost their last two games. Himachal undoubtedly look stronger in the current form.

Group C (at Jaipur): Bengal vs Bihar, Gujarat vs Services, Jammu & Kashmir vs Madhya Pradesh

Bengal will expect an easy win against the bottom placed Bihar in Group C to strengthen their claim towards the top two. Guajarat’s focus should be to continue their unbeaten run against Services and move to the top. Jammu &Kashmir vs Madhya Pradesh should be a tight match with both teams looking to move up from a mid-table position.

Plate Group (at Dehradun): Arunachal Pradesh vs Puducherry, Assam vs Sikkim, Chandigarh vs Mizoram

In the Plate group, Puducherry, Assam, and Chandigarh will look to win their respective fixtures to make a strong claim towards the top spot currently held by Puducherry. Both Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram have won only one match apiece till now and Sikkim are yet to win their first match in the tournament.