Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed a scintillating century to help Maharashtra achieve a 40-run win over Kerala in their Elite group C match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Opting to bat first, Gaikwad, who is also the team skipper, went on a six-hitting spree, smashing seven maximums and eight fours during his 68-ball 114 to single-handedly take Maharashtra to 167 for four.
In reply to this, Kerala could only manage to score 127 runs, losing eight wickets in the process in the stipulated 20 overs as well. Rohan Kunnummal was their top scorer with a 44-ball 58 at the top.
For Maharashtra, Satyajeet Bachhav (3/11) and Azim Kazi (2/25) took three and two wickets respectively, while Rajvardhan Hangargekar (1/16) and Shamshuzama Kazi (1/8) accounted for one each.
In another match, Karnataka trounced Arunachal Pradesh by 10 wickets, riding on splendid bowling performances by Vidhwath Kaverappa (3/22) and V Koushik (3/5). Karnataka, who had finished runners-up in the last edition, bundled out Arunachal Pradesh for 75 runs in 19.2 overs, and then returned to overhaul the target in 6.5 overs.
It was a clinical bowling display from Karnataka, as J Suchith (2/15), K Gowtham (1/12) and Vijaykumar Vyshak (1/17) were also among the wickets, apart from Vidhwath and Koushik. Chasing the total, skipper Mayank Agarwal smashed 47 not out in 21 balls, while his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal made an unbeaten 20-ball 28.
Karnataka are leading the group C points table with 16 points from five matches, followed by Haryana and Services.
(With PTI Inputs)
