Riyan Parag hit an amazing 116-ball 174 to help Assam chase a massive target of 351 in 46.1 overs against Jammu and Kashmir in their Vijay Hazare quarter-final in Ahmedabad on Monday. Parag hit 12 sixes and a dozen fours as Assam won the match by seven wickets. Responding to J&K’s 350 which was barrel built by Henan Nazir 124 (113 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) and Shubham Khajuria 120 (84 balls, 8 fours, 8 sixes), Assam dropped to 45 for two ahead of Parag and Rishav Das (114 of 118 balls) came red-handed.
In a combative mood, 21-year-old Parag waded into the rival bowling alley while hitting . He continued to find the ropes and did not hesitate to move across the field.
The right-handed batter’s massive 277-run partnership with Das left the J&K bowlers, who had impressed throughout the tournament, clueless.
It was Parag’s third century in the ongoing Hazare Trophy and made a daunting task easy for Assam.
Parag fell 29 runs short of goal, but Das, playing second fiddle, saw Assam come home with 23 balls to spare.
Jammu and Kashmir entered the bats and got off to a good start with openers Khajuria and Vivrant Sharma (34) scoring 74 in 11.4 overs. After Sharma fell, Khajuria and Nazir put up 129 runs for the second wicket.
Khajuria’s dismissal to Avinov Choudhury (2/47) led to a mini-collapse, but Nazir and Fazil Rashid (53, 46 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) added 113 for the fifth wicket.
Short Scores: J&K 350 for 7 in 50 overs (Henan Nazir 124, Shubham Khajuria 120, Fazil Rashid 53) lost to Assam 354 for 3 in 46.1 overs (Riyan Parag 174, Rishav Das 114 not out) by seven wickets.
Record-breaking Gaikwad pilots Maharashtra to semi-finals
Double centurion Ruturaj Gaikwad made his way into the record books, hitting seven sixes in a run of 43 as Maharashtra defeated Uttar Pradesh by 58 runs to storm into the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Uttar Pradesh opted to bowl and faced a shocker when the Maharashtra skipper went to the Motera B ground with hammer and tongs on his 220 strike coming off 159 balls, driving Maharashtra to 330 for five.
In reply, wicket-keeper batsman Aryan Juyal led UP’s attack with a 143-ball 159, but it wasn’t enough as they folded for 272 in 47.4 overs.
Rajvardhan Hangargekar took a five wicket first draw (5/53) and was the chief wreck for Maharashtra.
The penultimate over of Maharashtra’s innings was the most eventful as Gaikwad unleashed his fury against hapless UP left arm spinner Shiva Singh, hitting him seven sixes in a row thanks to a no ball while creating a List A record.
He also became the only batsman in limited overs cricket to score 43 runs in a single over.
In the last four clash on Wednesday, Maharashtra will face Assam, who knocked out Jammu and Kashmir in another quarter-final here.
Previously, Brett Hampton and Joe Carter of Northern Districts combined for 43 points against Willem Ludick in their game against Central Districts in a Ford Trophy game in 2018.
It was a one-man show from the Maharashtra opener as he held their innings together even as the wickets continued to fall at the other end.
The first ball of the 49th over was a low full toss and Gaikwad smoked it over deep midwicket for the first six. The second was knocked straight to the ground, while making a deep square leg for his third maximum. The fourth pitch was tagged long range, the fifth, a no ball, was played almost in the same direction, and the batter took full advantage of the free hit by hammering it long over and reaching his double century.
The seventh and final ball was hit over a deep midwicket, as the UP spinner returned with expensive figures of 0/88 from nine overs.
Overall, Gaikwad hit 16 sixes and 10 fours and scored most of the score as the rest of his teammates only scored 96 runs from 142 pitches.
In reply, wicket-keeper batsman Aryan Juyal led UP’s attack with a 143-ball 159, but it wasn’t enough as they folded for 272 in 47.4 overs.
Rajvardhan Hangargekar took a five wicket first draw (5/53) and was the chief wreck for Maharashtra.
Short Scores: Maharashtra 330/5; 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 220, Ankit Bawne 37, Azim Kazi 37; Kartik Tyagi 3/66) by Uttar Pradesh 272; 47.4 overs (Aryan Juyal 159, Shivam Sharma 33; Rajvardhan Hangargekar 5/53, Satyajeet Bachhav 2/52) with 58 runs.
Saurashtra knocks out TN after Chirag Jani’s all round showing
Ahmedabad, 28 November Chirag Jani put on an all-round showing (52 not out and 3/52) as Saurashtra defeated Tamil Nadu by 44 runs to enter the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Monday.
Brought to bat by Tamil Nadu skipper B Indrajith, Saurashtra made 293 for 8 in 50 overs. Half a century by Harvik Desai, Arpit Vasavada and Chirag Jani propelled Saurashtra.
Tamil Nadu’s prolific opening pair of N Jagadeesan and B Sai Sudharsan got separated quite early with Chetan Sakariya ((1/31) holding the former LBW when the batsman had made just 8.
Jagadeesan, who has hit five centuries on the trot and has a List A record score of 277 in the competition phase, was expected to play a key role for Tamil Nadu. His early dismissal was a huge setback for last year’s runners-up.
Saurashtra struck three more crucial blows removing Sudharsan (24), B Aparajith (4) and veteran Dinesh Karthik (9) to grab the advantage.
Captain Baba Indrajith (53) and Sai Kishore (74) joined forces at this time and made a stand of 113 runs for the fifth wicket to bring Tamil Nadu back into the reckoning.
While Indrajith was vigilant, Sai Kishore didn’t mind taking the air route and hitting three sixes.
Parth Bhut (2/47) did it for Saurashtra by removing Indrajith as the partnership took on ominous proportions.
Sai Kishore and R Sanjay Yadav (21) added 28 runs for the sixth wicket. Jani, after his exploits with the bat at number 7, had Sai Kishore caught by Samarth Vyas to tip the balance in his team’s favor.
Although R Sonu Yadav (29, 21 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes) went after bowling, he lacked support at the other end as the team was bowled out for 249 in 48 overs.
Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (2/48) and Parth Bhut (2/47) took two wickets each as Jani finished with a three wicket draw. When Saurashtra took to bat, they were 232 for 7 in the 44th left when all-rounder Jadeja fell for a duck.
Jani (52 not out, 31 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes) and captain Jaydev Unadkat (22, 20 balls, 2 sixes) piled on TN’s woes with a lively half-century partnership to get the score close to the 300.
Though Saurashtra Sheldon Jackson lost early, Desai (61) and Jay Gohil (34) laid the platform with a smart at bat.
Samarth Vyas (27) and Prerak Mankad (35) made useful contributions to make the total substantial. A 78-run tie for the fifth wicket between Vasavada and Mankad came at a crucial moment as TN had landed two quick blows.
While Sandeep Warrier (1/44) had Desai removed after his enterprising knock, left arm spinner M Siddharth (1/46) had Vyas caught by R Sai Kishore.
Short Scores: Saurashtra 293 for 8 in 50 overs (Harvik Desai 61, C Jani 52 not out, A Vasavada 51) defeated Tamil Nadu 249 all out in 48 overs (R Sai Kishore 74.B Indrajith 53.C Jani 3/53 ) with 44 runs.
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