Vijay Hazare Trophy: Ruturaj Gaikwad smashes 4th ton in five games; Kerala, MP qualify for knockouts; Mumbai knocked out

[caption id=“attachment_10114101” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Representational image. iStock[/caption] Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his red hot form to smash his fourth hundred but Maharashtra despite their narrow win over Chandigarh couldn’t qualify for the Vijay Hazare knock-out from group D of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday. The win however was not enough for Maharashtra, who were unlucky to be eliminated finishing third on net-run rate (+0.104) after they ended with 16 points with Kerala (+0.974) and Madhya Pradesh (+0.485). Kerala topped group D with a massive five-wicket win over Uttarakhand with 86 balls to spare to advance directly into the quarters where they will face Services at Jaipur on 22 December. Madhya Pradesh on the other hand finished second, ousting Maharashtra with a thrilling three-run win over Chhattisgarh to qualify for the pre-quarters where they will face Uttar Pradesh at Jaipur on 19 December. Chasing a tall 310 in a do-or-die group D clash, the Maharashtra skipper led from the front with a blistering 168 from 132 balls. Later their No 6 Azim Kazi gave the finishing touches with a composed 79-ball 73 to win with seven balls to spare at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Ground C here. This was the Maharashtra and Chennai Super Kings opener’s fourth century in five matches – his sensational form continuing since his record-breaking IPL 2021 run where he amassed 635 runs to bag the Orange Cap. The 24-year-old smashed 100 off 95 balls before cruising to his next 50 from 26 balls as he hammered 12 fours and six sixes before getting out in the 44th over. With Yogesh Nahar, Gaikwad put on a 109-run opening stand but they went on to lose four wickets for 22 runs to be 131/4 in the 24th over. Then the left-handed allrounder Kazi gave fine company to his skipper with the duo putting on 139 runs for the fifth wicket to set up the chase. Gaikwad earlier had scored a hattrick of centuries – 136, 154*, 124 – in the ongoing VHT to conclude the season with 603 runs with an average of 150.75. He also joined the likes of Virat Kohli, Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal to hit four centuries in one Vijay Hazare Trophy season. Brief Scores Chandigarh 309/7; 50 overs (Manan Vohra 141, Arslan Khan 87, Ankit Kaushik 56; Pradeep Dadhe 4/49, Mukesh Choudhary 2/79) lost to Maharashtra 313/5; 48.5 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 168, Azim Kazi 73 not out; Yuvraj Choudhary 2/62) by five wickets. Uttarakhand 224/9; 50 overs (Jay Bista 93, Dikshanshu Negi 52; M D Nidheesh 3/25, Basil Thampi 2/41) lost to Kerala 225/5; 35.4 overs (Sachin Baby 83 not out; Deepesh Nainwal 2/40) by five wickets. Madhya Pradesh 191; 45.5 overs (Shubham Sharma 56, Rajat Patidar 47; Ravi Kiran 3/36, Sumit Ruikar 3/41, Ajay Mandal 2/25) beat Chhattisgarh 188; 49.3 overs (Sanjeet Desai 47, Ajay Mandal 42; Parth Sahani 2/21, Kumar Kartikeya 2/29, Shubham Sharma 2/35, Avesh Khan 2/46) by three runs. *** Tripura beat Meghalaya by nine wickets in their final Vijay Hazare Trophy Plate group match on Tuesday to finish with an unbeaten record and qualify for the knockout phase. With both Tripura and Meghalaya locked on four wins from four games, the fifth match on Tuesday was a direct shootout for a spot in the next round and the former eased home after bundling out its opponent for 116 in 39.5 overs. Chasing 117 for a win, opener Bishal Ghosh and Samit Gohel slammed half-centuries to knock off the required runs in 28 overs and secured Tripura’s progress in the national 50-over tournament. Earlier, leg-spinner Amit Ali picked up five wickets in 7.5 overs to stymie the opposition batting line-up with none being able to play a long innings to support opener Chirag Khurana who scored a fighting 55 (90 balls, 5x4). Khurana was one of Ali’s victims. Tripura finished with 20 points from five matches to top the Plate group and advanced while Meghalaya was second (16 points, 4 wins,1 loss) and Bihar third (12 points, three wins, 2 losses). Nagaland also had three wins and 12 points but was fourth due to an inferior net run-rate. Brief scores: Meghalaya 116 all out in 39.5 overs (Chirag Khurana 55, Amit Ali 5/26) lost to Tripura 118 for 1 in 28 overs (Samit Gohel 55 not out, Bishal Ghosh 51 not out) by nine wickets. Tripura: 4 points, Meghalaya: 0. Arunachal Pradesh 83 all out in 21.3 overs (Rajesh Bishnoi 25, Malay Raj 5/38, Sachin Kumar 3/6) lost to Bihar 87 for 4 in 19.1 overs (Pratyush Singh 28 not out) by six wickets. Bihar: 4 points, Arunachal: 0. Sikkim 230 for 9 in 50 overs (Codanda Ajit Karthik 45, Kranthi Kumar 29, Homendro Kabrambam 3/34) lost to Manipur 234 for 8 in 50 overs (Jayanta 50, M Langlonyamba 52, Nitesh 45, Karthik 3/42) by two wickets. Manipur: 4 points, Sikkim: 0. Nagaland 236 for 8 in 50 overs (Abu Nechim 62 not out, Rongsen Jonathan 51, Chetan Bist 48, Parvez Ahmed 3/49) beat Mizoram 156 all out in 48 overs (Uday Kaul 39, Iqbal Abdulla 32, Imliwati Lemtur 4/23) by 80 runs. Nagaland: 4 points, Mizoram: 0. ***   Captain Srikar Bharat’s second successive hundred powered Andhra to an 81-run win over Gujarat in their Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday. Riding on Bharat’s blazing 156 off 138 balls, barely two days after his 161-run knock against Himachal Pradesh, a struggling Andhra managed to post 253 for nine after batting first. Bharat smashed seven sixes and 16 fours during his knock. In reply, Gujarat were all out for 172 in 41.3 overs with left-arm spinner Manish Golamaru picking 4/30. In another Group A match, skipper Faiz Fazal struck an unbeaten hundred as Vidarbha comfortably beat Jammu and Kashmir by five wickets. Chasing 234 to win after opting to bowl first, Vidarbha rode on their experienced skipper’s 102 off 110 balls to complete the task with as many seven overs to spare at the Bandra Kurla Complex. The game seemed to have opened up a bit after Vidarbha lost their fourth wicket in the form of Yash Rathod with the score reading 81 for four in the 18th over. However, by the time the next batter got out, Vidarbha were only four shy of the target, thanks to a match-winning partnership of 149 runs between Fazal and Apoorv Wankhade, who made 79 off 80 balls. While opener Fazal decorated his knock with 12 hits to the fence, Wankhade hit eight fours and two sixes during his stay in the middle. For Jammu and Kashmir, Ram Dayal was the most successful bowler as he returned figures of 2/40 in eight overs. Leg-spinner Parvez Rasool, who has been a part of the Indian team in the past, picked up one wicket for 44 runs in his full quota of 10 overs. Earlier, had it not been for an 80-run stand for the ninth wicket Rasool (50) and wicketkeeper Fazil Rashid (73), J&K would have folded for a much lower total than the 233 they achieved in the end. Batting at number 10, Auqib Nabi made 27. J&K were reeling at 130 for eight in the 35th over before the lower-order batters came to their rescue. Yash Tahkur and Aditya Sarwate tokk three wickets apiece for Vidarbha. Brief Scores: Jammu and Kashmir: 233 all out in 49.3 overs (Parvez Rasool 50, Fazil Rashid 73; Yash Tahkur 3/58, Aditya Sarwate 3/36) lost to Vidarbha 236/5 in 43 overs (Faiz Fazal 102 not out, Apoorv Wankhade 79) by 5 wickets. Himachal Pradesh 360/5 in 50 overs (Nikhil Gangta 81, Rishi Dhawan 91) beat Odisha 297 all out in 45.1 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 82; Mayank Dagar 6/59) by 63 runs. Andhra: 253/9 in 50 overs (Srikar Bharat 156) beat Gujarat 172 all out in 41.3 overs (Umang Kumar 55; Manish Golamaru 4/30) by 81 runs. *** All-rounder Lakhan Singh impressed with both bat and ball to help Services defeat Rajasthan by 16 runs and set up a quarter-final clash with Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Tuesday. In a top-of-the table concluding group E clash, Services notched 232/7 after Rajasthan elected to field at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Oval ground here. In reply, Rajasthan were restricted to 216/9 with left arm spinner Rahul Singh doing the maximum damage with his 3/33 from his 10 overs that included two maidens. Lakhan (2/54) and Diwesh Pathania (2/36) claimed two apiece as Services topped group E pushing Rajasthan to second spot on head-to-head count after both teams finished on 16 points. As per rules, Rajasthan will now have to play the pre-quarterfinal where they will face Karnataka at Jaipur on 19 December. Ravi Chauhan top-scored with 61 from 81 balls (5x4, 2x6) while his opening partner Chauhan gave a fine stand with a 68-ball 42 (3x4, 1x6) as they put on a solid 101-run opening partnership in 21.5 overs. Services suffered a mid innings collapse losing three wickets in 38 runs to be 139/3 in 30.2 overs as Mumtaz Qadir put on a steady 33 from 59 balls, while wicketkeeper batsman Devender Lochab hit a 38-ball 31 to take them to a modest 232/7. Defending the small total, Services bowlers gave regular breakthroughs and did not allow Rajasthan to settle down to restrict them to 216/9. Left-arm spinner Rahul Singh did the maximum damage with a 3/33 from his 10 overs that included two maidens, while Lakhan (2/54) and Diwesh Pathania (2/36) claimed two apiece. Brief Scores Assam 267/8; 50 overs (Rishav Das 71, Riyan Parag 66; Akash Pandey 2/36, Amit Kuila 2/69) beat Railways 205; 48.1 overs (Mohammad Saif 52, Vivek Singh 41; Pritam Das 3/38, Mukhtar Hussain 2/22, Parag 2/35, Swarupam Purkayastha 2/42) by 62 runs. Services 232/7; 50 overs (Ravi Chauhan 61, Lakhan Singh 42; Aniket Choudhary 3/20, Shubham Sharma 3/44) beat Rajasthan 216/9; 50 overs (Abhijeet Tomar 58, Shubham Sharma 47; Rahul Singh 3/33, Diwesh Pathania 2/36, Lakhan Singh 2/54) by 16 runs. Punjab 288/8; 50 overs (Gurkeerat Mann 105, Anmolpreet Singh 101; Lakshay Garg) tied with Goa 288/7; 50 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 148 not out, Samar Dubhashi 56). *** Tamil Nadu had a batting debacle in their 41-run defeat at the hands of Baroda in their final group B league match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy but that didn’t stop them from qualifying for the knock-out stage of the competition. Defending champion Mumbai stumbled to a fourth defeat in five games to finish with four points after a humiliating 18-run loss to unfancied Pondicherry. Though Tamil Nadu (12 points) was well beaten by Baroda, its healthy net run-rate of 1.052 helped the team take the top spot ahead of Karnataka (12 points, NRR 0.789) and Bengal (12 points, NRR 0.235) and Puducherry (12 points, NRR -1.360) after four teams finished equal of points. Tamil Nadu entered the quarterfinals as it finished on top of the group while Karnataka will play the pre-quarterfinals as the second qualifier from Group B. It was a forgettable tournament for the Shams Mulani-led Mumbai as it managed only one from five matches to finish last with 4 points after having won the delayed tournament (2020-21) earlier in the year. Their solitary win came against Baroda. On a day of top-turvy results, Tamil Nadu could not chase down a target of 115 in 50 overs and was shot out for 73 in 20.2 overs as the Baroda spinners Bhargav Bhatt (3/27), Krunal Pandya (2/16) and Gurjindersingh Mann (2/7) strangled the strong opposition batting line-up. Batting first, after skipper Kedar Devdhar won the toss, Baroda lost wickets at regular intervals and only Krunal Pandya (38, 82 balls, 3 fours) with his uncharacteristic and slow knock, made a significant contribution. For Tamil Nadu, spinners M S Washington Sundar (2/15), M Siddharth (2/25) and R Sanjay Yadav (2/13) grabbed two wickets apiece as did medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier (2/20). After a bright start by opener C Hari Nishaanth (11, 8 balls, 1 six, 1 four), things went downhill for Tamil Nadu as the rest of the batters simply fell like a pack of cards and were all out in the 21st over. Only three batters managed double-figures. None of the big guns-captain Vijay Shankar (1), Dinesh Karthik (1), Washington Sundar (8) and B Indrajith (0) apart from power-hitter M Shahrukh Khan (9) could make an impact in the low-scoring game. Meanwhile, Karnataka went down to Bengal despite making 252 for 8 in 50 overs thanks to Manish Pandey’s enterprising knock of 90. Skipper Sudip Chatterjee (63) and opener Abhisek Das (58) fashioned Bengal’s victory with Shahbaz Ahmed (26 not out) finishing off the job. In the Mumbai-Pondicherry match, spinner Fabid Ahmed turned the match the latter’s way with an impressive spell of 4 for 16 in 10 overs with the wickets of talented, young Yashasvi Jaiswal (2), PY Pawar (11), skipper Mulani (6) and Tanush Kotian (0). Replying to Pondicherry’s 157 riding on Paras Dogra’s 58, Mumbai batters save for Aakarshith Gomel (70, 127 balls, 5 fours) never came to grips with the situation and perished in the face of some accurate bowling. A 49-run ninth wicket stand between Gomel and Dhawal Kulkarni (18) gave Pondicherry the jitters before Sagar Udeshi (2/20) finished off Mumbai’s hopes. Brief scores: Karnataka 252 for 8 in 50 overs (Manish Pandey 90, 85 balls, Rohan Kadam 37, Karun Nair 25, Pradipta Pramanik 4/48) lost to Bengal 253 for 6 in 48.3 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 63, Abhisek Das 58, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury 49, Shahbaz Ahmed 26 not out) by four wickets. Bengal: 4 points, Karnataka: 0. Baroda 114 all out in 39 overs (Krunal Pandya 38, R Sanjay Yadav 2/13) beat Tamil Nadu 73 all out in 20.2 overs (Bhargav Bhatt 3/27, Gurjindersingh Mann 2/7) by 41 runs. Baroda: 4 points, TN: 0. Pondicherry 157 all out in 46 overs (Paras Dogra 58 (84 balls, 6x4, 1x6), Mohit Avasthi 3/19) beat Mumbai 139 all out in 48.1 overs (Aakarshith Gomel 70 (127 balls, 5X4), Fabid Ahmed 4/16) by 18 runs. Pondicherry: 4 points, Mumbai: 0. *** Delhi’s dismal show in the domestic season continued as they finished a dreadful fifth among six teams after losing to Saurashtra by four wickets in their last group C league match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Tuesday. Saurashtra by virtute of being group toppers with an all-win record and 20 points qualified for the quarter-finals with second placed Uttar Pradesh, who finished on 12 points with three wins out of five matches. Delhi again batted first and laboured their way to 201 for 8, which was also possible because of useful knocks from Anuj Rawat (45 off 57 balls) and skipper Pradeep Sangwan (34 off 43 balls). Jaydev Unadkat (2/26) and Chetan Sakariya (2/29) kept things tight while all-rounders Chirag Jani and Prerak Mankad also got a wicket apiece. In reply, Saurashtra scored the runs losing six wickets in 38.1 overs with Mankad smashing 73 off 63 balls and this is his second half-century in a two back-to-back games. With IPL teams looking for seam-bowling all-rounders, who could also be finishers, Mankad might interest franchises at the auction. Delhi has now been knocked out of two white ball national competitions before reaching the knock-out stage and it is there to be seen as to what kind of measures Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) takes for ensuring an improved show in the blue riband Ranji Trophy tournament. In another match, former KKR left-hander Rinku Singh (75) and pacer Ankit Rajpoot (5/33) were the star performers for Uttar Pradesh in their comprehensive 78-run win over Haryana to finish second in the group. UP scored 245/9 and save Rinku, none of the others reached 50-run mark. For Haryana, India seamer Harshal Patel (3/56) and veteran Mohit Sharma (2 wickets) were the main wicket-takers. Patel also smashed 67 off 61 balls with six sixes but the rest of the batters didn’t perform up to the mark and were all out for 167 in 38.5 overs. In another match, seasoned bowlers Varun Aaron and Shahbaz Nadeem too three wickets apiece as Jharkhand beat Hyderabad by 36 runs in an inconsequential group league game. Brief Scores UP 245/9 (Rinku Singh 75, Harshal Patel 3/56). Haryana 167 in 38.5 overs (Harshal Patel 67, Ankit Rajpoot 5/33). UP won by 78 runs. Delhi 201/8 (Anuj Rawat 45, Jaydev Unadkat 2/26). Saurashtra 204/6 (Prerak Mankad 73, Mayank Yadav 3/57). Saurashtra won by 4 wickets. Jharkhand 276 (Virat Singh 65, Chama Milind 6/63). Hyderabad 240 (Varun Aaron 3/50, Shahbaz Nadeem 3/32). Jharkhand won by 36 runs. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram