Opener Prashant Chopra's blistering half-century helped Himachal Pradesh outplay Goa by seven wickets in their Group D match of the Vijay Hazare One-Day cricket tournament, here today.
Chasing 185 for a win at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium in Khandheri, Himachal rode on an 80-run opening stand between Ankush Bains (36) and Prashant (67) to race to their target in 29.2 overs.
After the opening duo's dismissal and the wicket of Robin Bisht (12), Paras Dogra (34 not out) and Rishi Dhawan (31 not out) made sure that they canter home without any more casualties.
For Goa, Shadab Jakati bagged all the three wickets giving 33 runs.
Earlier put into bat, Goa got off to a descent start but a middle and lower-order collapse saw them bundled out for 184 off 45.4 overs.
Skipper Sagun Kamat (57 runs off 95 deliveries) and Swapnil Asnodkar (37 runs, 44b, 3X4) added 62 runs for the opening wicket before Asnodkar returned to the pavilion.
Keenan Vaz (25) and Saurabh Bandekar (23) started well but failed to convert their starts into bigger scores.
Pankaj Jaiswal bagged three wickets giving 26 runs, while Bipul Sharma and Rahul Singh got two wickets each.
Brief Scores:
Goa 184 all out off 45.4 overs (Sagun Kamat 57, Swapnil Asnodkar 37; Pankaj Jaiswal 3-26)
Himachal Pradesh 187 for 3 off 29.2 overs (Prashant Chopra 67, Paras Dogra 34 not out; Shadab Jakati 3-33)
Points: Himachal Pradesh 4, Goa 0.
