VIDARBHA REGISTER THIRD WIN IN A ROW

Hyderabad, Feb. 8: Faiz Fazal returned to form with a stellar century as Ranji champions Vidarbha routed Hyderabad by 237 runs for a hat- trick of wins in the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic one- day cricket competition here on Thursday.

The left- handed opener overcame a string of poor scores with a 97- ball 103 ( 9x4, 3x6) before the duo of Ravi Jangid ( 81 from 62 balls; 6x4, 3x6) and Apoorv Wankhade ( 66 from 43 balls; 3x4, 5x6) took charge of the proceedings to propel Vidarbha to a huge 350/ 6 after they opted to bat.

In reply, Hyderabad folded for 113 in 34.2 overs with Karn Sharma returning figures of 3/ 38 while Shrikant Wagh claimed 2/ 20, as the home side suffered its first defeat from three matches.

With three wins in a row, Vidarbha led Group D table with 12 points, while

the home side remained second with eight points.

In other matches, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir secured their first wins respectively, to remain in contention. Parvez Rasool led from the front with an unbeaten 67 ( 80 balls; 3x4, 2x6) and he along with Shubham Pundir ( 55 from 47 balls; 7x4) steered them to a stunning six- wicket win over a star- studded Saurashtra with an over to spare at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad.

Chasing 268, opener Ahmed Bandy gave Jammu & Kashmir a fine start with a 66- ball 65 ( 11x4, 1x6) before Rasool and Pundir combined together for a matchwinning 98- run fourth- wicket stand.

Ravindra Jadeja returned wicketless with 59 from his full quota, while IPL’s costliest Indian buy, Jaydev Unadkat, also finished without a wicket conceding 57 from his nine overs.

Earlier, Saurashtra were struggling at 131/ 5 after their star players Robin Uthappa ( 20 from 29 balls; 2x4), Cheteshwar Pujara ( 27 from 64 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja ( 13 from 30b; 1x4) were dismissed cheaply.