Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya delivered brilliant all-round performances while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Dhruv Jurel hit centuries in an action-packed day at the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Punjab pulled off a stunning one-run win over Mumbai.
Brilliant all-round performances from Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Aquib Nabi and brilliant centuries from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Dhruv Jurel concluded an action-packed Thursday of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, which saw plenty of Indian international stars gaining the limelight and a few nail-biters.
Group Standings Update
Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh (24 and 20 points in Group A), UP and Vidarbha (28 and 20 points in Group B), Punjab and Mumbai (24 and 20 points in Group C) and Delhi and Saurashtra (24 and 20 points in Group D) hold the top two positions in their respective Elite-level groups.
Hardik Pandya's All-Round Show for Baroda
Starting from Baroda's match against Chandigarh, there was an incredible all-round performance delivered by Hardik Pandya. Standout knocks from Priyansu Moliya (113 in 106 balls, with 12 fours and a six), Hardik (75 in 31 balls, with two fours and nine sixes) and Jitesh Sharma (73 in 33 balls, with eight fours and four sixes) had taken them to 391 in 49.1 overs. Later, while Shivam Bambhari (100 in 95 balls, with six fours and four sixes) scored a century for Chandigarh, Hardik's 3/66 in 10 overs, and pacer Rasikh Salam's 2/22 in five overs were major highlights as Chandigarh was skittled out for 242 in 40 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja Dominates for Saurashtra
In Gujarat's clash against Saurashtra, it was a century from Vishvaraj Jadeja (112 in 103 balls, with nine fours and five sixes) and fifties from skipper Harvik Desai (82 in 80 balls, with 13 fours and a six) and Ravindra Jadeja (52* in 39 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) proved to be instrumental in taking Saurashtra to 383/4 in 50 overs. Jadeja followed up his batting heroics with the ball, bowling well in tandem with Indian pacer Chetan Sakariya (3/41), capturing figures of 3/62 in 10 overs. No Gujarat batter could reach a half-century as they were skittled out for 238 in 40 overs, losing by 145 runs.
Aquib Nabi's Heroics Secure J&K a Heist
Perhaps, the most surprising all-round show was saved for Hyderabad's clash against Jammu and Kashmir. J&K had opted to field first, with Aquib Nabi bowling a tight spell of 3/56 in 10 overs as fifties came from previous match's double centurion Aman Rao (60 in 77 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes), Rahul Gahlaut (56 in 36 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) and K Nitesh Reddy (54* in 61 balls, with six fours). Hyderabad posted 268/9 in 50 overs. J&K was down 90/7 during the chase, but Nabi, batting at number eight, struck a 82-ball 114*, with 10 fours and seven sixes, his first century in professional cricket. He partnered with Vanshaj Sharma (69* in 78 balls, with eight fours and three sixes) as the chase was done in 47.5 overs without any further loss, making this one of the biggest heists in VHT recently.
Punjab Clinch One-Run Thriller Against Mumbai
Punjab looked in a spot of bother, skittled out for 216 runs, with Abhishek Sharma (8), Prabhsimran Singh (11) flopping and Ramandeep Singh (72 in 74 balls with five fours and three sixes) and Amolpreet Singh (57 in 75 balls, with six fours and a six) giving their score an air of respect, with Musheer Khan (3/37) and Shivam Dube (2/20) being Mumbai's best bowlers. During the run-chase, Sarfaraz Khan hit the fastest List-A fifty by an Indian in just 15 balls, smashing Abhishek for three fours and sixes in an over and ending with 62 in 20 balls, with seven fours and five sixes. Skipper Shreyas Iyer looked in sublime touch as well, scoring a 34-ball 45, with four boundaries and two sixes. But the rest of the batting fell flat against spinner Mayank Markande (4/31) and pacer Gurnoor Brar (4/57), and Mumbai was skittled out for 215 in 26.2 overs as Punjab pulled off a stunning one-run win.
Even though his side lost, Sarfaraz's chances of being in CSK's starting XI look great, with 303 runs in five innings so far at an average of 75.75, a strike rate of over 190, including a century and two fifties.
Gaikwad's Record-Levelling Century for Maharashtra
Ruturaj Gaikwad's statement century against Goa was not a wasted effort either. His fighting 134* in 131 balls, with eight fours and six sixes, took Maharashtra to 249/7, with Vicky Otswal (53 in 82 balls, with two fours and two sixes) posting a valuable fifty. After being left out of the squad for New Zealand ODIs, Gaikwad, who had scored his maiden ODI ton against South Africa last year, delivered his second ton of the ongoing season and levelled with Ankit Bawne's record for joint-most centuries in the tournament's history, both having 15 each. While Bawne's tons have come in 101 matches, Gaikwad took just 59 matches to reach there. Goa's run-chase saw Lalit Yadav continuing his fine run with an unbeaten 57* in 67 balls, with five fours and a six, but they fell five runs short, restricted to 244/9 by a fine four-fer from Prashant Solanki (4/56).
Dhruv Jurel Century Powers UP's Chase
In the clash between UP and Bengal, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) spinner Zeeshan Ansari's dream season continued with a nine-over spell of 3/33, taking his tally to 21 scalps at an average of just over 14. Bengal was put to bat first by UP and bundled out for 269 in 45.1 overs, with Sudip Kumar Goswami (94 in 106 balls, with 12 fours and a six) and Shahbaz Ahmed (43 in 54 balls, with three fours) posing a fight with the bat. Jurel (123 in 96 balls, with nine fours and five sixes) slammed the season's second century while Aryan Juyal (56 in 65 balls, with seven fours) and skipper Rinku Singh (37* in 26 balls, with three fours and two sixes) also posted valuable contributions to chase down the total in 42.2 overs with five wickets in hand. Jurel is the fourth-highest run-getter so far in the tournament, with 558 runs in seven matches at an average of 93.00, a strike rate of over 122.90, two centuries and four fifties.
Other Key Matches
Delhi vs Haryana
Delhi, which had skittled out Haryana for 105 in 25.4 overs courtesy three-fers from Ishant Sharma, Prince Yadav and Navdeep Saini, secured an easy nine-wicket win with Nitish Rana top-scoring (57* in 39 balls, with six fours and four sixes).
Tamil Nadu vs Kerala
Skipper N Jagadeesan's one-man show of 139 in 126 balls, with nine fours and five sixes, took TN to 294/8 against Kerala, with Edhen Apple Tom (6/46) taking a marvellous six-fer. Despite fireworks by skipper Rohan Kunnummal (73 in 45 balls, with seven fours and five sixes) and solid knocks from Baba Aparjith (35 in 38 balls, with five fours) and Vishnu Vinod (35 in 31 balls, with three fours and two sixes) in the middle-order, TN managed to contain Kerala, restricting them to 217 in 40.2 overs to secure their third win of the season.
Vidarbha vs Assam
Last season's finalists Vidarbha post 308/7 in 50 overs, with Samarth R (94* in 76 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Atharva Taide (80 in 88 balls, with six fours and three sixes) being standout performers against Assam. Parth Rekhade's four-fer helped Vidharba bundle out Assam for 148 runs in 35 overs, winning by 159 runs.
Karnataka vs Madhya Pradesh
For Karnataka, the defending champions, skipper Mayank Agarwal (49 in 59 balls, with five fours and a six) and Devdutt Padikkal (35 in 39 balls, with two fours and two sixes) did put a 77-run opening stand, but a fifer from Shivang Kumar (5/49) restricted them to 207 in 47.4 overs against Madhya Pradesh. MP chased down the target with seven wickets in hand in 23.2 overs, with Venkatesh Iyer shining with 65* in 33 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes). (ANI)
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