Record-breaking Gaikwad guides Maha into Hazare semis

Double centurion Ruturaj Gaikwad blazed his way into the record books, smashing seven sixes in a 43-run over as Maharashtra outplayed Uttar Pradesh by 58 runs to storm into the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Opting to bowl, Uttar Pradesh were in for a shocker as the Maharashtra skipper went hammer and tongs at the Motera B ground during his knock of 220 that came off 159 balls, propelling Maharashtra to 330 for five.

In reply, wicketkeeper-batter Aryan Juyal led UP's charge with a 143-ball 159 but it was not enough as they folded for 272 in 47.4 overs.

Rajvardhan Hangargekar picked up a maiden five-wicket haul (5/53) and was the wrecker-in-chief for Maharashtra.

The penultimate over of Maharashtra's innings was the most eventful one as Gaikwad unleashed his fury against hapless UP left-arm spinner Shiva Singh, smashing him for seven sixes in a row thanks to a no ball while creating a List A record.

He also became the only batter in limited overs cricket to score 43 runs in a single over.

In the last-four clash on Wednesday, Maharashtra will face Assam who eliminated Jammu and Kashmir in another quarterfinal in Ahmedabad.

Earlier, Brett Hampton and Joe Carter of Northern Districts jointly hit 43 runs against Willem Ludick in their match against Central Districts in a Ford Trophy game in 2018.

It was a one-man show by the Maharashtra opener as he held their innings together even as wickets kept falling 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 one was hit straight down the ground, while he cleared deep square leg for his third maximum. The fourth delivery was tonked over long-off, 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 over long-on and reach his double century.

The seventh and final ball was smashed over 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 did the bulk of the scoring as the rest of his teammates managed only 96 runs from 142 deliveries.

In reply, wicketkeeper-batter Aryan Juyal led UP's charge with a 143-ball 159 but it was not enough as they folded for 272 in 47.4 overs.

Rajvardhan Hangargekar picked up a maiden five-wicket haul (5/53) and was the wrecker-in-chief for Maharashtra.

Brief Scores: Maharashtra 330/5; 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 220, Ankit Bawne 37, Azim Kazi 37; Kartik Tyagi 3/66) b Uttar Pradesh 272; 47.4 overs (Aryan Juyal 159, Shivam Sharma 33; Rajvardhan Hangargekar 5/53, Satyajeet Bachhav 2/52) by 58 runs. 

Parag's blistering 174 powers Assam past J&K

Riyan Parag smashed a superb 116-ball 174 to help Assam chase down a mammoth target of 351 in 46.1 overs against Jammu & Kashmir in their Vijay Hazare quarterfinal.

Parag struck 12 sixes and a dozen fours as Assam won the match by seven wickets.

Replying to J&K's 350 that was built on tons by Henan Nazir 124 (113 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) and Shubham Khajuria 120 (84 balls, 8 fours, 8 sixes), Assam slipped to 45 for two before Parag and Rishav Das (114 off 118 balls) got into the act.

The 21-year old Parag was in a belligerent mood and waded into the rival bowling while hitting . He kept finding the ropes and did not hesitate to go over the field.

The right-handed batter's huge 277-run partnership with Das left the J&K bowlers, who had been impressive through the tournament, clueless.

It was Parag's third century in the ongoing Hazare Trophy and made a daunting task look easy for Assam.

Parag fell 29 runs short of the target but Das, who played second fiddle, saw Assam home with 23 balls to spare.

Sent into bat, J&K got off to a bright start with openers Khajuria and Vivrant Sharma (34) putting on 74 in 11.4 overs. After Sharma fell, Khajuria and Nazir put on 129 runs for the second wicket.

Khajuria's dismissal to Avinov Choudhury (2/47) sparked a mini collapse but Nazir and Fazil Rashid (53, 46 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) added 113 for the fifth wicket.

Brief 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. 

Saurashtra knock out TN after Chirag Jani's all-round show

Chirag Jani came up with an all-round show (52 not out and 3/52) as Saurashtra defeated Tamil Nadu by 44 runs to enter the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Ahmedabad.

Put in to bat by the Tamil Nadu skipper B Indrajith, Saurashtra made 293 for 8 in 50 overs. Half centuries by Harvik Desai, Arpit Vasavada and Chirag Jani powered Saurashtra.

Tamil Nadu's prolific opening pair of N Jagadeesan and B Sai Sudharsan was separated quite early with Chetan Sakariya ((1/31) trapping the former LBW when the batter had made only 8.

Jagadeesan, who has hit five centuries on the trot and made a List A record score of 277 in the league 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 the experienced Dinesh Karthik (9) to seize the advantage.

Captain Baba Indrajith (53) and Sai Kishore (74) joined hands at this juncture and stitched together a 113-run stand for the fifth wicket to bring Tamil Nadu back in the reckoning.

While Indrajith was watchful, Sai Kishore did not mind taking the aerial route and hit three sixes.

Parth Bhut (2/47) did the trick for Saurashtra by removing Indrajith when the partnership was assuming ominous proportions.

Sai Kishore and R Sanjay Yadav (21) added 28 runs for the sixth wicket. Jani, after his heroics with the bat at No.7, had Sai Kishore caught by Samarth Vyas to tilt the balance in his team's favour.

Though R Sonu Yadav (29, 21 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes) went after the 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) picked up two wickets each while Jani finished with a three-wicket haul.

When Saurashtra batted, they were 232 for 7 in the 44th over 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 misery with a brisk half century partnership and took the score close to the 300-mark.

Though Saurashtra lost Sheldon Jackson early, Desai (61) and Jay Gohil (34) laid the platform with some smart batting.

Samarth Vyas (27) and Prerak Mankad (35) made useful contributions to add substance to the total. A 78-run stand for the fifth wicket between Vasavada and Mankad came at a crucial time as TN had struck two quick blows.

While Sandeep Warrier (1/44) had removed Desai after his enterprising knock, left-arm spinner M Siddharth (1/46) had Vyas caught by R Sai Kishore.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 293 for 8 in 50 overs (Harvik Desai 61, C Jani 52 not out, A Vasavada 51) beat Tamil Nadu 249 all out in 48 overs (R Sai Kishore 74.B Indrajith 53.C Jani 3/53) by 44 runs.