Ruturaj Gaikwad has not only maintained but also increased his outstanding form by bringing up a brilliant century that helped Maharashtra to score 313 runs before getting out in the first innings during their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Chandigarh on Saturday. Besides Gaikwad, the opener Arshin Kulkarni (50 off 55 balls) and Saurabh Nawale (66) provided useful support through their impressive fifty-run innings.
After the early dismissals of Prithvi Shaw (8) and Siddesh Veer (7) Gaikwad was the only one who kept the innings going calm and composed with a brilliant 116 off 163 balls, including 15 boundaries. He combined with Nawale to the tune of 152 runs for the fifth wicket, thus saving Maharashtra’s situation. Although late wickets fell from Chandigarh left-arm spinner Raman Bishnoi, who got rid of Nawale and Jalaj Saxena in a snap, Gaikwad still had Vicky Ostwal by his side to take the team beyond the 300-run mark. Jagjit Singh and Abhishek Saini, the medium pacers, managed to bag three wickets each, while Vishu Kashyap and Bishnoi, the spinners, got two wickets each to help Chandigarh stay in the game.
Also, in Shimoga, the home team Karnataka scored 222 for 5 in 69 overs against Goa. Karun Nair was the mainstay of the innings on his return after a two-season break. He was not out on 86 and, along with Shreyas Gopal (48*), helped the team through an unbroken 94-run partnership.
At Rajkot, Saurashtra made 258 for 8 in 82.3 overs against Madhya Pradesh. The major contributor to the score was the opener, Chirag Jani, who made 82 off 138 balls. The Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja chipped in 36 runs (4 fours and a six). Spinner Kumar Kartikeya was the most successful bowler for MP, taking 4 wickets for 84 runs.
In New Chandigarh, on day one, opener Harnoor Singh was very good with his defence and counted 126 off 259 balls to lead Punjab to a score of 240 for 6 against Kerala.
(With PTI Inputs)
