Undeterred by Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) snub right ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, Narayan Jagadeesan continues to wreak havoc with his magnificent batting in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Star Tamil Nadu's right-handed batter Narayan Jagadeesan with 128-run knock, equalled Virat Kohli's record of smashing most centuries in a single edition of Vijay Hazare Trophy as he notched his fourth back-to-back century to record a massive 151-run win over Haryana in a Group C match on Saturday.
Kohli scored four centuries in the 2008-09 season after he got scores of 102, 119*, 124 and 114. The now 34-year-old was also the leading run-scorer that season after racking up 534 runs from seven matches at an average of 89.
Sent in to bat by Harayana skipper Himanshu Rana, Tamil Nadu rode on Jagadeesan's 128 (123 balls, 6 fours, 6 sixes) and fellow opening batter B Sai Sudharsan's 67 (74 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) to post 284 for seven in 50 overs.
A 151-run opening stand between Jagadeesan and Sudharsan in a little more than 26 overs saw Tamil Nadu seize the advantage.
The hundred for Jagadeesan makes him the fourth batter after Kumar Sangakkara, Alviro Petersen and Devdutt Padikkal to record centuries in four consecutive List A innings. His previous centuries came against Andhra, Chhattisgarh and Goa.
Jagadeesan hit six fours and six sixes in his brisk innings while Sudharsan, who has been in good form in the tournament, matched him stroke for stroke.
The Haryana bowlers appeared to be struggling to find ways to contain the TN batters when Jagadeesan and Sudharsan were at the crease. Sudhrasan fell to left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu.
B Aparajith (3) and B Indrajith (2) fell quickly to Mohit Sharma (2/43) and Haryana had more success when J Kousik (5) was dismissed by Anshul Kamboj.
This brought Jagadeesan and the power-hitting Shahrukh Khan (46) to the crease and they added 61 runs in quick time.
In reply, Haryana slipped to 2 for 2 in the second over as openers C K Bishnoi and Yuvraj Singh fell to Sandeep Warrier (2/33) and M Mohammed (2/37), respectively.
Haryana never recovered from the poor start and kept losing wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out 133 in 28.3 overs.
Off-spinner Aparajith was the best bowler for Tamil Nadu with 3 for 24 while R Sonu Yadav picked up two wickets.
In another match in the group, Andhra registered a 76-run win over Kerala. It was Kerala's first defeat while TN continued their winning run.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu 284/7 in 50 overs (N Jagadeesan 128, B Sai Sudharsan 67, M Shahrukh Khan 46, Mohit Sharma 2/43) beat Haryana 133 all out in 28.3 overs (Rahul Tewatia 34, B Aparajith 3/24, R Sonu Yadav 2/8) by 151 runs. TN: 4 points, Haryana: 0.
Andhra 259/9 in 50 overs (Ricky Bhui 46, Abhishek Reddy 31, K Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Karan Shinde 28) beat Kerala 183 all out in 44.1 overs (Akshay Chandran 41, Sachin Baby 35, Sijimon Joseph 32, Nitish Kumar Reddy 3/23, B Ayyappa 3/41) by 76 runs. Andhra: 4 points, Kerala: 0.
Chhattisgarh 304/7 in 50 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 120 (108 balls, 7X4, 4X6), Sanidhya Hurkat 74, Ashutosh Singh 35) beat Bihar 241/9 in 50 overs (Bipin Saurabh 110 not out, Shishir Saket 32, S S Agarwal 3/47) by 63 runs. Chhattisgarh: 4 points, Bihar: 0.
Arunachal Pradesh 175 all out in 50 overs Kamsha Yangfo 63, Doria 50, Amulya Pandrekar 5/41, Lakshay A Garg 3/32) lost to Goa 176/5 in 25.3 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 68, Suyash S Prabudessai 62) by five wickets. Goa: 4 points, Arunachal: 0.
