New Delhi [India], January 8 : A statement century from Ruturaj Gaikwad, half-centuries from Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja were the highlights as first innings action on Thursday's Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) match-day concluded.
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 tournament's history, both having 15 each. While Bawne's tons have come in 101 matches, Gaikwad took just 59 matches to reach there.
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.
Now in seven matches, Gaikwad has made 413 runs at an average of 82.60, with two centuries and a fifty.
During Saurashtra's clash against Gujarat, 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.
For Baroda against Chandigarh, standout knocks from Priyansu Moliya (113 in 106 balls, with 12 fours and a six), Hardik Pandya (75 in 31 balls, with two fours and nine sixes) and Jitesh Sharma (73 in 33 balls, with eight fours and four sixes) take them to 391 in 49.1 overs.
Coming to Punjab versus Mumbai, two sides filled with star white-ball players, it was bowling from Musheer Khan (3/37) and Shivam Dube (2/20) which reigned supreme, bundling out an explosive Punjab unit for just 216 in 45.1 overs, with Abhishek Sharma (8) and Prabhsimran Singh (11) flopping. Saving graces came from 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).
For Uttar Pradesh, SRH spinner Zeeshan Ansari continued his dream run with a spell of 3/33 in nine overs, leaving Bengal skittled 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. Zeeshan has now taken 21 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14.33, the joint-highest in the season, including two four-fers.
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.
For Hyderabad against Jammu and Kashmir, the previous match's double centurion Aman Rao (60 in 77 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) continued his fine run in white-ball format, with fifties also coming from 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. For J&K, pacer Aquib Nabi bowled a solid ten-over spell of 3/56.
Skipper N Jagadeesan's one man show of 139 in 126 balls, with nine fours and five sixes takes TN to 294/8 against Kerala, with Edhen Apple Tom (6/46) taking a marvellous six-fer.
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 77-run opening stand but a fifer from Shivang Kumar (5/49) restricted them to 207 in 47.4 against Madhya Pradesh.
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