Bengal Vs Uttar Pradesh Highlights, Vijay Hazare Trophy Round 7: Jurel's Century Clinches 5-Wicket Win For UP

We’re all set for the final group-stage action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as Bengal take on Uttar Pradesh in Round 7. UP have already booked their quarterfinal spot, while Bengal step into a must-win contest to keep their knockout hopes alive.

Bengal: Sumit Nag (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Karan Lal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Anustup Majumdar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sumanta Gupta, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami, Rohit Das, Mukesh Kumar, Abishek Porel, Ravi Kumar, Aamir Gani, Ankit Mishra, Vishal Sunil Bhati, Chandrahas Dash, Sayan Ghosh.

Uttar Pradesh: Abhishek Goswami, Aryan Juyal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Priyam Garg, Rinku Singh (c), Sameer Rizvi, Prashant Veer, Vipraj Nigam, Kartik Tyagi, Kuldeep Yadav, Zeeshan Ansari, Aaradhya Yadav, Shivam Sharma, Kunal Tyagi, Kartik Yadav, Karan Chaudhary, Vineet Panwar, Adarsh Singh, Rituraj Sharma, Vaibhav Chaudhary.

Elite Group A

• Karnataka vs Madhya Pradesh

• Puducherry vs Rajasthan

• Jharkhand vs Tripura

• Kerala vs Tamil Nadu

Elite Group B

• Baroda vs Chandigarh

• Hyderabad vs Jammu and Kashmir

• Assam vs Vidarbha

• Bengal vs Uttar Pradesh

Elite Group C

• Goa vs Maharashtra

• Mumbai vs Punjab

• Chhattisgarh vs Uttarakhand

• Himachal Pradesh vs Sikkim

Elite Group D

• Delhi vs Haryana

• Odisha vs Railways

• Andhra vs Services

• Gujarat vs Saurashtra

Only the matches between Karnataka vs Madhya Pradesh and Baroda vs Chandigarh will be live streamed on the JioHotstar app/website. You can still catch all the live action as it happens through our live blogs, starting from 9:00AM (IST) onwards.

Uttar Pradesh captain Rinku Singh has won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Bengal: Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Karan Lal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Anustup Majumdar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vishal Sunil Bhati, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami, Rohit Das, Ankit Mishra.

Uttar Pradesh: Abhishek Goswami, Aryan Juyal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Priyam Garg, Rinku Singh (c), Sameer Rizvi, Prashant Veer, Vipraj Nigam, Kunal Tyagi, Zeeshan Ansari, Karan Chaudhary.

Uttar Pradesh get their first breakthrough at the start of the fourth over, with Karan Chaudhary getting an edge off Karan Lal, which is caught behind by Jurel. The Bengal opener departs for just five off 11 balls. Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, who made a fiery start including seven boundaries, is joined by new batter Sudip Gharami.

However, UP get another quick wicket as the dangerous Easwaran departs for 28 off 11 balls. Karun Tyagi gets the scalp, with another caught-behind for Jurel. Anustup Mahumder is the new batter, who gets off the mark with a boundary.

Karan gets his second wicket of the day, dismissing Anustup for 13 off 10, just when the Bengal batter started to free his arms. Last match's centurion, Shahbaz Ahmed, joins the crease with Gharami at the other end. Overall, a very good start from the UP bowlers.

Bengal cross the 100-run mark at the end of the 18th over, with a solid 43-run partnership being built up by Gharami and Shahbaz. The former has taken his time in the middle and is set at 31 off 46, while Shahbaz is batting at 24 off 31.

A brilliant partnership has developed under pressure from Bengal, with Gharami reaching a well-taken half-century in 74 balls, which includes six boundaries. He has been ably supported by Shahbaz, who reaches his poised to reach his own fifty soon, batting at 43 off 53. The pair have taken Bengal to a solid position at the end of the 27th over, with the partnership now worth 89 runs.

At the end of the 32nd over, Gharami is still going strong at 74 off 89 balls, including 10 boundaries. Shakir is taking his time at the other end at 12 off 19, but what Bengal need is a solid partnership to take them to a 250-plus total and give their bowling attack something to defend.

Sudip Kumar Gharami falls just six runs short of what would have been a terrific century under immense pressure condition. The Bengal batter departs for 94 off 106 balls, including 12 boundaries and a six, as he holes out to Sameer Rizvi off Prashant Veer's bowling. Still, his knock has taken Bengal to a respectable total, and the tail will look to add some more to take then past 250.

Bengal's first innings comes to an end as they are bowled out for 269 in 45.1 overs. After being down to 61/3 inside eight overs, the partnership between Gharami (94) and Shahbaz (43) rescued the batting side, with Akash Deep adding some crucial runs with 33 off 16. Zeeshan Ansari is the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3/33 in nine overs.

Uttar Pradesh's chase suffers an early blow as Akash Deep removes opener Abhishek Goswami in the first ball of the second over, with Vishal Bhati taking the catch. Goswami departs for four, and Dhruv Jurel joins opener Aryan Juyal at the crease.

At the end of the first powerplay, Uttar Pradesh have maintained a healthy run rate of just under five-an-over. Bengal, meanwhile, need more than one wicket to keep themselves in the contest, knowing that their first innings total of 269 isn't the biggest. For now, Easwaran is sticking with Shami and Akash Deep.

Dhruv Jurel has led the UP chase so far, and the batter reaches his half-century and is batting at 54 off 45. His strike partner, Juyal, is reaching a fifty of his own, currently at 42 off 53 balls. Bengal need to break this partnership as soon as possible, with UP needing just 163 more to win.

Bengal get the wicket that they were looking for, with Ankit Mishra dismissing Juyal for 56 off 65, that included seven boundaries. Jurel, however, is still at the crease, with Priyam Garg at the other end. Shami & co. need to break this partnership and get the dangerous Jurel off the pitch to have any hopes of defending their meagre total.

Dhruv Jurel is simply in a sensational form as he scores yet another century for Uttar Pradesh, who are cruising towards a win at the moment. With more than 18 overs to go, UP require just 72 runs for the win.

Another loss incoming for Bengal and unless they pick quick wickets, the game will be done and dusted for them.

Dhruv Jurel could have scored a double hundred today, looking at the way he was playing, but his innings has been shortened by an unfortunate run-out.

He leaves after scoring 123 off 96. Soon after Jurel's departure, Sameer Rizvi was scalped by Rohit for just 8 runs.

The onus is now on skipper Rinku Singh and number 7 Prashant Veer.

Uttar Pradesh have sealed a comfortable five-wicket win, chasing down the 270-run total in 42.2 overs. Captain Rinku Singh remained unbeaten at 37 off 26, and Jurel's 96-ball 123 helped UP to a comfortable chase with 46 balls to spare.