Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022: Ruturaj Gaikwad 124 not out powers Maharashtra to thumping win vs Railways

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022: Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 124 runs off 123 balls with eight fours and seven sixes as Maharashtra beat Railways by seven wickets in Ranchi.

VHT 2022: Gaikwad 124 not out powers Maharashtra to thumping win vs Railways. Courtesy: PTI

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury: Ruturaj Gaikwad, on Saturday, November 12, scored his 12th List A century as Maharashtra beat Railways by seven wickets at the Metallurgical and Engineering Consultant Ltd Sail Stadium in Ranchi on the opening day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022.

Gaikwad stayed unbeaten on 124 runs off 123 balls with eight fours and seven sixes as Maharashtra chased down 219 with 11.4 overs to spare. Gaikwad was also involved in a 165-run stand for the opening wicket along with Rahul Tripathi, who scored 75 runs off 80 balls with 10 fours and one six.

After Tripathi got out to leg-spinner Karn Sharma, Maharashtra lost the quick wickets of Kedar Jadhav and Azim Kazi, but the writing was already on the wall for Railways.

Shivam Chaudhary, Yuvraj Singh and skipper Sharma picked up one wicket apiece for Railways. Akash Pandey couldn’t make a breakthrough, but conceded 36 runs at an economy rate of 3.6.

Earlier, after opting to field first, Maharashtra restricted Railways to 218 for the loss of eight wickets. Right-arm off-spinner Shamshuzama Kazi picked up two wickets for 26 runs and was the standout bowler for his team.

Mukesh Chaudhary, Manoj Ingale, Satyajeet Bachhav and Azim Kazi picked up one wicket apiece. Shivam Chaudhary and Vivek Singh took Railways off to a decent start with an 81-run stand for the opening wicket off 19.5 overs.

While Shivam top-scored with 46, Vivek managed a 32-run knock. After both openers got out in the space of three overs, Railways found the going tough. Karn Sharma’s quick-fire 40 off 33 balls with three fours and one six helped his team get past the 200-run mark.