Yuvraj Singh hits 59-ball 78 not out in Punjab win

Hyderabad, Dec 15: Yuvraj Singh blasted his way to an unbeaten 78 off 59 balls as Punjab coasted to a 6-wicket victory against Rajasthan to put a foot in the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here today.

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With their fourth win in five matches, Punjab are on top of group A with 16 points and a match to go. Courtesy Yuvraj, who hit 10 fours and two sixes, Punjab raced to the victory target of 271 in only 44.4 overs.

Opener Jiwanjot Singh (66) and Mandeep Singh (60) also made significant contributions. Along with Mayank Siddana (25), Yuvraj added 75 runs in only 9.3 overs as they hardly broke sweat while achieving the target.

Earlier, Brainder Sran (4/60) had the best figures as Rajasthan posted a decent 270/7 in 50 overs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Manender Singh scored 118 in 129 balls with six boundaries and three sixes while Puneet Yadav (43) and Ashok Menaria (32) also chipped in with useful runs.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan 270/7 in 50 overs (Manender Singh 118, Brainder Sran 4/60) Punjab 273/4 in 44.4 overs (Yuvraj Singh 78 not out, Jiwanjot Singh 66, Mandeep Singh 60). Punjab win by 6 wickets. Points: Punjab 4; Rajasthan 0.

PTI