Delhi dumped out after Maha defeat
Cuttack, Feb. 28: Skipper Kedar Jadhav led from the front with a blistering 113 as Maharashtra pounded a hapless Delhi by 195 runs in a Group ‘B’ match to knock them out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Tuesday.
After being invited to bat, Maharashtra treated the Delhi bowlers with disdain to put on board a formidable 367 for 8 and then shot out the rivals for a mere 172 inside 34 overs.
It was third defeat in a row from Delhi, being led by young Rishabh Pant, and they are now out of the tournament.
It was not a great start for Maharashtra as seasoned Ashish Nehra removed Ruturaj Gaikwad (9) but Vijay Zol (35) and Naushad Shaikh (52) firmed up the innings with a 52-run stand.
After Shaikh was undone by Nitish Rana, captain Jadhav came on the crease and took the Delhi attack by the scruff of its neck, making an 83-ball 113 that was laced with 11 fours and eight sixes.
With keeper Nikhil Naik (63), Jadhav raised a quickfire 59-run stand for the fourth wicket before being dismissed by Pawan Negi.
Delhi had a relatively better start with India discards Gautam Gambhir (53) and Shikhar Dhawan (24) putting on 64 inside 10 overs but once the latter was run out, the innings continued to slump. Only Milind Kumar (38) and Manan Sharma (21) resisted the Maharashtra attack a bit. Others faded as Delhi middle order crumbled.
In other Group ‘B’ matches, Tamil Nadu got the better of Himachal Pradesh by eight wickets, chasing a modest 217 to win in Cuttack while Tripura edged Uttar Pradesh by two wickets, chasing 198 in Bubaneshwar.
Opener Kaushik Gandhi hit an unbeaten 107 in Tamil Nadu’s emphatic win after Himachal Pradesh were all out for 216.
It was Sarfraz Khan who helped UP post 197 and the bowlers too fought well but Gurinder Singh led Tripura to the finish line with his gritty 64 in a tight climax. In a Group ‘C’ match, Chandrakant Sakure (5/25) finished with a five-wicket haul as Madhya Pradesh registered a 80-run win over Ranji Trophy finalists Mumbai.
Mumbai restricted Madhya Pradesh to 214 in 45.1 overs but themselves fell for a meagre 134 in 38.4 overs. — PTI