File photo – Kedar Jadhav’s 71 helped Maharashtra post a total of 311 in their mammoth win over Kerala © AFP
Prashant Chopra‘s career-best List A score of 159 helped Himachal Pradesh thrash Delhi by 185 runs in Bhubaneshwar. Chopra, whose third List A century included 24 fours and three sixes, took HP finish at 339 for 8 before their bowlers, led by debutant spinner Dheeraj Kumar (5-24), bowled Delhi out for 154.
Chopra scored 159 of HP’s total of 233 before he was dismissed, combining in partnerships of 81 for the first wicket with Ankit Bains (21) and 115 for the third wicket with Paras Dogra (77 off 65 balls). After Chopra fell in the 39th over, their batsmen scored another 106 runs off the remaining 71 deliveries to post a mammoth total after their 50 overs. While Navdeep Saini and Kulwant Khejroliya took three wickets each, all seven UP bowlers went in excess of six runs per over.
Chasing 340, Delhi lost opener Gautam Gambhir (0) and captain Rishabh Pant (2) early. By the 14th over, they were struggling at 53 for 4 with Pankaj Jaiswal collecting three early wickets. A fifth-wicket partnership between opener Sarthak Ranjan (37) and Milind Kumar (29) took Delhi to the hundred-run mark, but Dheeraj then spun out both batsmen, and struck another three times in quick succession to bowl out Delhi 185 runs short of HP’s total.
Tamil Nadu completed a comfortable seven-wicket win Cuttack after their bowlers dismissed Uttar Pradesh for 159 before half-centuries from Dinesh Karthik (56*) and Vijay Shankar (58*) took them past the 160 target in the 28th over.
UP’s innings was made up of two batting collapses sandwiched between a 59-run fifth wicket partnership between Sarfaraz Khan (31) and Rinku Singh (37) that took their team past the 100-run mark. On either side of the partnership, UP lost their first four wickets in the space of 38 runs while they lost their last five wickets for another 34 as they were bowled out inside 36 overs. While M Mohammed (2-34) troubled UP’s top order, Aswin Crist (2-38) and Rahil Shah (2-25) chipped in with crucial lower-order wickets to set TN a paltry total of 160 to chase.
TN lost three early wickets in their chase, but an unbeaten 101-run fourth-wicket partnership between Karthik and Shankar meant their team crossed the line with 22 overs to spare to complete their second win in as many days.
Half-centuries from Ruturaj Gaikwad (79), Naushad Shaikh (57) and captain Kedar Jadhav (71) helped Maharashtra defeat Kerala in Cuttack by 122 runs. Defending 312, Maharashtra’s Pradeep Dadhe (4-33) and Shamshuzama Kazi (3-25) took regular wickets to bowl Kerala out for 189 in the 40th over.
Kerala’s openers gave their team a strong start to the chase, but constant dismissals, including three top-order wickets from Dadhe, saw them collapse from 49 for no loss to 61 for 5 in the space of eight overs. Mohammed Azharuddeen (50) and Iqbal Abdulla (60) added 109 runs for the seventh wicket, but it was all in vain as Kazi ran through the lower-order to skittle Kerala out for 189.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra overcame an early wobble to post 311 after their 50 overs. Gaikwad and Jadhav put together 104 runs for the third wicket, while a late surge from Shaikh, Shrikant Mundhe (31) and Kazi (27) ensured a strong finish to their innings. Jalaj Saxena took four late wickets to finish with figures of 4 for 51 off his nine.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo