Maharashtra run machine Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a second consecutive century in as many days to help his team thrash Chhattisgarh by eight wickets in a Group D match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Thursday.
Chasing his high-scoring target against Madhya Pradesh, the Maharashtra captain on Wednesday left the task of being dismissed for 136 unfinished, but this time he smashed an unbeaten 143-ball 154 with three overs to spare. hunted.
The 24-year-old hit five sixes and 14 fours and was in total control of the chase, making him a strong possibility to make his debut in the upcoming ODI series in South Africa.
Gaikwad also found some support from his opening partner Yash Nahar (52) as the duo laid the foundation with an opening partnership of 120 runs before putting on a crucial 94 from Naushad Shaikh (37).
Gaikwad and Naushad dissected the ground with ease and never let the Chhattisgarh bowlers freeze as they chased down their target brilliantly in no time.
Chhattisgarh’s legspinner Shubham Agarwal bore the brunt of Gaikwad’s fury by conceding 54 runs in his six overs.
Gaikwad stepped on at long-on to score his second consecutive century in 105 balls and followed up with another six against the same bowler to cross the 150-mark.
Gaikwad has been in the form of his life and was the top runner in IPL Played a key role in Chennai Super Kings’ fourth win in 2021, scoring 635 runs with four fifties and a century.
He also surpassed KL Rahul’s tally of 626 runs and became the youngest batsman to receive the Orange Cap as he scored three consecutive half-centuries in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
However he missed the knockout leg of the domestic T20s after being named in India’s T20I squad against New Zealand where he did not get to play a single game.
Earlier on a quiet SCA Stadium pitch, Chhattisgarh were reduced to 275/7 after Gaikwad fielded.
In another match, Venkatesh Iyer, who recently made his T20I debut in the home series against New Zealand, used his all-rounder skills to register Madhya Pradesh’s easy 40-run win over Kerala.
Batting at No. 4, Venkatesh first put on an entertaining 169-run partnership of 112 in 84 balls (7×4, 4×6) and Shubham Sharma (82 in 67 balls; 9×4, 1×6). 329/9 after being planted by Kerala skipper Sanju Samson.
In reply, Kerala were bowled out for 289 in 49.4 overs, with Venkatesh scoring 3/55 while Puneeth Date claimed 4/59.
Brief Scores:
Chhattisgarh 275/7; 50 overs (Amandeep Khare 82, Shashank Singh 63; Mukesh Chaudhary 4/67) lost to Maharashtra 276/2; 47 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 154 not out, Yash Nahar 52, Naushad Sheikh 37, Rahul Tripathi 23 not out) by eight wickets.
Madhya Pradesh 329/9; 50 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 112, Shubham Sharma 82, Rajat Patidar 49, Abhishek Bhandari 49) Kerala 289; 49.4 overs (Rohan Kunnumal 66, Sachin Baby 66; Puneet Date 4/59, Venkatesh 3/55) by 40 runs.
Chandigarh 269/9; 50 overs (Sarul Kanwar 97, Ankit Kaushik 55, Arijit Pannu 46; Agrim Tiwary 3/51) lost to Uttarakhand 270/7; 49.2 overs (Jai Bista 68, Kamal Singh 59; Yuvraj Chaudhary 3/48) by three wickets.
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