Vijay Hazare Trophy: Maharashtra beat Tamil Nadu by 22 runs

Cuttack, March 2: Ruturaj Gaikwad (82) and Naushad Shaikh (68) blasted twin fifties as Maharashtra defeated Tamil Nadu by 22 runs in their Group B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday (March 1).

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Electing to bat, Gaikwad slammed nine boundaries and two sixes in his 76-ball innings, while fifth-down batsman Shaikh hit three fours and as many sixes in his 66-ball stay to power Maharashtra to a challenging 270 allout in 48.5 overs.

Maharashtra then dished out a disciplined bowling performance with Shrikant Mundhe returning with a four-wicket haul and Nikit Dhumal and Shamshuzama Kazi snapping two wickets each as they dismissed Tamil Nadu for 248 with five balls to spare.

Skipper Baba Indrajith (49) was the top-scorer for Tamil Nadu, while opener Kaushik Gandhi (38), Ganga Sridhar Raju (37) and Baba Aparajith (26) -- all got starts but they couldn't capitalise.

In another match, Akshdeep Nath plundered a 117-ball 143 studded with 19 fours and three sixes to power Uttar Pradesh to a mammoth 387-5 after they were invited to bat by Kerela at the KIIT Stadium.

Chasing the enormous target, Kerela failed to put up a fight as they were bundled out for 142 in 32 overs as UP notched up a massive 245-run victory.

At Barabati Stadium, Himachal Pradesh skipper Ankush Bains' decision to bowl first backfired as Tripura posted 206 all out in 49.5 overs.

Pace duo of Abhijit Sarkar (6/31) and Ajoy Sarkar (4/37) then shot out Himachal Pradesh for 68 in just 15 overs to complete the 138-run drubbing.

Summarised scores:

At DRIEMS Ground: Maharashtra 270 allout in 48.5 overs (RD Gaikwad 82, NS Shaikh 68; M Mohammad 2/36) beat Tamil Nadu 248 allout in 49.1 overs (B Indrajith 49; SS Mundhe 4/43).

At KIIT Stadium: Uttar Pradesh 387 for five in 50 overs (AD Nath 143; V Vinod Kumar 2/83) beat Kerela 142 all out in 32 overs (Vishnu Vinod 32; P hawla 3/19)

At Barabati Stadium: Tripura 206 all out in 49. 5 overs (N Sen Chowdhury 51; P Jaiswal 4/32) beat Himachal Pradesh 68 allout in 15 overs (Sumeet Verma 31; AK Sarkar 6/31).

PTI