Prithvi Shaw stars with robust half-century as Maharashtra hand comprehensive defeat to Sikkim in VHT

Prithvi Shaw and Rajvardhan Hangargekar were Maharashtra's star performers as they defeated Sikkim comfortably by 8 wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. After losing to Punjab in their opening game, Maharashtra registered their first win of the tournament by completely outclassing their opponents in both the batting and bowling departments.

After being invited to bat first, Sikkim began their innings on a positive note as openers Amit Rajera and K Sai Satwik formed a strong stand. They took the side over the 50-run mark, but Hangargekar eventually broke the partnership in the 17th over by dismissing Satwik for 32. Following this wicket, the rest of Sikkim's batting order would struggle quite a lot.

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Left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal opened his account for the day by getting rid of Rajera for 24..The Sikkim batters didn't manage to form a strong partnership for the rest of their innings as Maharashtra pacer Ramakrishna Ghosh also joined the party and picked up three scalps in just two overs. His fiery spell saw Sikkim go down to 114/6 at one stage.

Hangargekar decimates Sikkim's lower-order

Things didn't get much better for them as the match progressed and they soon lost Kranthi Kumar, who was the top-scorer of their innings, for 40 runs in the 34th over. While Sikkim somehow managed to reach the 150-run mark, they wouldn't go any further and get bundled out for exactly the same score. Hangargekar picked up the final three scalps of the innings and recorded figures of 4/21 as Maharashtra set up a target of 151 for themselves.

In reply, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side began on a strong note thanks to the opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Arshin Kulkarni. The duo toiled with the opposing bowlers and helped Maharashtra cross the 50-run mark in no time.Shaw proved to be the aggressor among the two and reached his half-century after playing some brilliant shots.  Both the batters looked set to score big, but Sikkim finally got the breakthrough in the 11th over and sent Shaw back to the pavilion for 51 runs.

Gaikwad's cameo leads Maharashtra to easy win

The wicket didn't stop Maharashtra's run-flow as both Kulkarni and Ghosh formed an important 39-run stand to take the side closer to the target. Though the former ended up losing his wicket for 40 runs in the 16th over, the damage was already done. Gaikwad took the crease following the dismissal and played an explosive cameo of 38 runs from just 13 deliveries as Maharashtra reached the modest target in just 18 overs to win the match comfortably by 8 wickets. They will be aiming to go on a winning run from here and their next opponents in the Vijay Hazare Trophy will be Himachal Pradesh. The third round of the tournament will be held on December 29.