Jadeja’s 113 steer Saurashtra to four-wicket win over Jharkhand

Chasing a difficult target of 330, Saurashtra was off to a fine start, thanks to the flamboyance of Rohin Uthappa and Samarth Vyas, who put on 55 in 6.2 overs before both of them departed in quick succession.

Ravindra Jadeja of Saurashtra who scored an unbeaten century against Jharkhand in the Group D match of Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Ravindra Jadeja defied acute side strain to carve out a match-winning century (113 not out, 116b, 7 x 4, 4 x 6) and fashion Saurashtra’s impressive four-wicket win over Jharkhand in a Group D match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament at Gymkhana Ground here on Sunday.

Chasing a difficult target of 330, Saurashtra was off to a fine start, thanks to the flamboyance of Robin Uthappa and Samarth Vyas, who put on 55 in 6.2 overs before both of them departed in quick succession.

Then, captain Cheteshwar Pujara and Jadeja put on a useful 63 runs during which the former revelled in some exquisite stroke-play, before he was snared up by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem to leave Saurashtra at 133 for three in 21.5 overs.

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Jharkhand was back in the game when the in-form Prerak Mankad was deceived in flight to be caught and bowled by offie Utkarsh Singh to reduce Saurashtra to 150 for four in 24.2 overs.

However, soon it was Jadeja and Chirag Jani’s (59, 46b, 6 x 4, 2 x 6) show as the two put on what turned out to be a match-winning partnership of 114 runs for the fifth wicket.

Jadeja farmed the strike cleverly interspersing easy singles with some lusty blows. He was no doubt lucky - dropped twice on 51 and 52 - but to his credit, braved off disconcerting pain right through his stay to eventually hit the winning boundary too!

Earlier, 19-year-old opener Ishan Kishan (93, 96b, 5 x 4, 7 x 6) served another reminder of his immense potential with a superbly-paced knock and also putting on 143 runs for the first wicket with Virat Singh (44, 63b, 3 x 4).

Ishan showed fine footwork against both pace and spin to pick the gaps at ease. And, everytime he launched into the big hits, Ishan was confidence personified clearing the fence effortlessly - seven times in all. Later, the free-stroking Sumit Kumar scored a very handy half-century (64, 57b, 7 x 4, 1 x 6) to prop the total.

In another match, Jammu and Kashmir pulled off a five-wicket win over Services thanks to a fine century by Shubham Khajuria (102, 136b, 8 x 4) while, Services shocked Vidarbha with a 45-run win.

Brief scores

Jharkhand 329 for 9 in 50 overs (Ishan Kishan 93, Virat Singh 44, Sumit Kumar 64) lost to Suarashtra 333 for 9 in 48.2 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 44, Ravindra Jadeja 113*, Chirag Jani 59) by 4 wickets.

Chhattisgarh 284 for 8 in 50 overs (Manoj Singh 41, Amandeep Singh 65, K.Vishal Singh 61, Shrikant Wagh 3 for 58) beat Vidarbha 239 in 46.1 overs (Faiz Fazal 53, Akshay Karnewar 60, K.Vishal Singh 4 for 54, Mohammed Shahnawaz Hussian 3 for 41) by 45 runs.

Services 296 for 6 in 50 overs (Nakul Verma 125, G. Rahul Singh 71, Diwesh Pathania 48) lost to J & K 297 for 5 in 49 overs (Ahmad Omar Banday 94, Shubham Khajuria 102, Ian Chauhan 48) by 5 wickets.

Monday’s matches: Hyderabad vs J & K (Uppal Stadium), Chattisgarh vs Jharkhand (Gymkhana), Saurashtra vs Services (AOC Thapar Stadium) - 9. 00 am.