Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20, Quarter-final 4: Chhattisgarh v Mumbai – Preview, Prediction

If this clash is anything like the one the league stages dished out, we’re in for a cracking quarterfinal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20. Towards the end of September, in the Alur grounds on the outskirts of Bengaluru, unfancied Chhattisgarh pulled off a coup against domestic giants Mumbai. It wasn’t a low-scoring, scraped result either.

Mumbai had set Chhattisgarh a fairly sizeable target of 318, having been asked to bat. Aditya Tare scored a 90, Suryakumar Yadav an 81 off just 31, and there were meaty contributions from captain Shreyas Iyer (50) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (44). It was a daunting target, and there was a mini crumble early on that would have caused doubts in the Chhattisgarh ranks.

However, Amandeep Khare, all of 22, showed maturity beyond his years to put together a 94-ball 117 and glued the innings together, putting on partnerships with Harpreet Singh, Shashank Singh and Ajay Mandal. With 20 runs required off the last seven balls, Mandal and Khare pulled off the chase with a ball to spare, and later said it was a “different kind of high”.

That’s the high Chhattisgarh will be chasing when they clash with Mumbai again on Monday. Their last win over Mumbai came in the tournament opener, and it sets things up for the team. They went on to win four more matches in seven, and finished two points above the domestic giants in the cross pool.

However, despite that high, Chhattisgarh would do well not to be complacent. After that loss, Mumbai went on to beat all of Saurashtra, Goa, Kerala, and Jharkhand by heavy margins. They are a power-packed, experienced side, and now that they have their guard up, Chhattisgarh will face a more onerous task than they earlier did.

Once again, as with most domestic stories, it’s difficult to see past Mumbai.

Key players

Ashutosh Singh (Chhattisgarh): Khare might have scored that all-important century, but the reliable runs for Chhattisgarh come from Ashutosh. He scored consecutive half-centuries in his last three matches – against Hyderabad, Jharkhand and Kerala – and will approach this quarter-final in terrific form. Mumbai will be wary.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (Mumbai): Mumbai have unearthed another gem. Jaiswal has reached three figures thrice in the tournament so far. Last time he did so, against Jharkhand, he made that a double century, and became the youngest to do so in Vijay Hazare history. He has 504 runs at an average of 100.80, and get this, he’s just 17. Chhattisgarh better watch out.

Likely XIs

Chhattisgarh: Rishabh Tiwari, Shashank Chandrakar, Ashutosh Singh, Harpreet Singh (c), Amandeep Khare, Shashank Singh, Ajay Mandal, Puneet Datey, Pankaj Rao, V Pratap Singh, Lavin Coster (wk)

Mumbai: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aditya Tare (wk), Siddesh Lad, Shreyas Iyer (c), Shivam Dube, Suryakumar Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur, Shams Mulani, Shubham Ranjane, Shashank Attarde

Prediction

Mumbai to avoid the slip-up a second time, and fight to victory