Cricket- Akhil Herwadkar shines as Mumbai beat Goa by 7 wickets in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Mumbai continued their ruthless showing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, as they hammered Goa by seven wickets in their Elite Group A clash.

After bundling out Goa for a paltry 186, Mumbai chased the target within 36 overs losing just 3 wickets. Opener Akhil Herwadkar played a key role in ensuring a comfortable win for his side, remaining unbeaten on 108.    

Mumbai have not lost any of the matches in the ongoing national one-day tournament, and at the "Just Cricket" ground, their bowlers rose to the occasion yet again. 

With this win, Mumbai are on course to make it to the next round.

Experienced medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni (3-32) led from the front as Goa lost wickets at regular intervals. Kulkarni was ably supported by Royston Dias (2-36), Shams Mulani (2-31) and Shivam Dube (2-36).

For Goa, lower-middle order batsman Suyash Prabhudesai showed some resistance with a gritty 52, which helped his side get past the 175-run mark. Amit Verma (49) too chipped in, with the other batsmen rendered ineffective.

The chase was led by Herwadkar who struck 11 fours and hit 4 sixes in his 112-ball knock. Mumbai slumped to a score of 95-3 at one stage but recovered soon enough after Siddhesh Lad (26 not out) supported Harwadkar as the two took the side home without much fuss.

In another Elite Group A match,at neighbouring Alur, wicket-keeper-batsman Akshay Wadkar scored an unbeaten 82 to help Vidarbha defeat Maharashtra by three wickets, with just four balls to spare. 

All-rounder Gurkeerat Mann emerged as the match-winner for Punjab in their clash against Railways, scoring a century in a 58-run win via the VJD method. Veteran Yuvraj Singh also made his presence felt, providing valuable support with a 121 ball 96 laced with five boundaries and four sixes. 

Brief Scores:

Goa 186 all out in 49.5 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 52, Amit Verma 49, Dhawal Kulkarni 3-32) lost to Mumbai 189/3 in 35.3 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 108 not out, Siddesh Lad 36 not out, Krishna Das 2-31) by seven wickets.

Maharashtra 205/8 in 50 overs (Ankit Bawne 62, Ruturaj Gaikwad 32, Sanjay Ramaswamy 2-20) lost to Vidarbha 206/7 in 49.2 overs ( Akshay Wadkar 82 not out, Darshan Nalkande 53 not out, Samad Fallah 2-33) by three wickets.

Punjab 284/6 in 50 overs (Gurkeerat Mann 101, Yuvraj Singh 96, Chandrakant Sakure 3-85) beat Railways 210 all out in 44.3 overs (Saurabh Wakaskar 104, Manish Rao 30, Mayank Markande 3-40) by 58 runs via VJD method.