Vijay Hazare Trophy | Elite Group C - Tripura, Services register wins, Tamil Nadu make it five in a row

Victories to Tripura and Services on Friday meant that three teams in the Elite Group C were tied on 12 points each, shaping up things nicely for the fag end of the season. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, blasted their way to victory once again by thwarting a helpless J&K by eight wickets, meaning they took their points tally to 20, level on points with Gujarat, but marginally behind them on the second spot thanks to Net Run Rate. 

Services 283-3 (47.1) overs beat Madhya Pradesh 282-7 (50) by 7 wickets

After winning the toss and electing to bat, skipper Naman Ojha struck an immaculate 130 to propel his side to a total of 282, with the help of a late cameo from Anand Bais (61). Diwesh Pathania (4/50) starred with the ball for Services, but to his dismay, got no support from the others. However, centuries from Ravi Chauhan (118) and Gahlaut Rahul Singh (109) meant that Services strolled to victory with almost three overs left, taking their points tally to 12. 

Tripura 285-8 (50) beat Rajasthan 238 all-out (47) by 47 runs

Bishal Ghosh (128) and Tanmay Mishra (56) instantly made Rajasthan regret their decision to bowl first by piling on a 140-run for the second wicket, eventually helping Tripura post a healthy 285 on the board. Aniket Chouhdary (2/54) and Rahul Chahar (2/64) chipped in with wickets, but largely to no avail. In reply, skipper Mahipal Lomror (71) put up a valiant fight, but lack of support from his teammates meant that Rajasthan slid to a crushing 47-run defeat. Ajoy Sarkar (3/58) was the wrecker in chief for Tripura on the day. 

Tamil Nadu 239/2 (48) beat Jammu and Kashmir 238-9 (50) by 8 wickets

Tamil Nadu justified their decision to win the toss and bowl first by restricting the Parvez Rasool-led J&K side to a modest total of 238. Shubham Pundir (66) and Abdul Samad (50) chipped in with fifties, but R Sai Kishore's economical spell of 1/17 strangled J&K. In response, after losing Abhinav Mukund early, Murali Vijay (117) and Baba Aparajith (86*) put up a 166-run stand to down J&K and race off to a crushing 8-wicket win. This result also means that TN continue their perfect start to the season, having won all five of their games so far.