Ruturaj, Bawane power Maharashtra into final

AHMEDABAD: Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ankeet Bawane slammed scintillating hundreds as Maharashtra earned a maiden entry into the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a 12-run win over Assam here on Wednesday.

Maharashtra will take on Saurashtra in the summit clash on Friday. With Maharashtra invited to bat, skipper Ruturaj continued his sensational run with a 126-ball 168 (18 fours, 6 sixes) while Bawane made 110 off just 89 balls (10 fours, 2 sixes) as the duo shared a 207-run third-wicket partnership to lift their team to 350 for seven.

Chasing a stiff total, Rishav Das (53 off 49 balls, 9 fours, 1 six), Sibsankar Roy (78 off 63 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes) and Swarupam Purkayastha (95 off 87 balls, 10 fours, 1 six) kept Assam in the hunt before the team succumbed to scoreboard pressure. In the end, Assam was restricted to 338 for eight.

Saurashtra defeats Karnataka

Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat produced a sensational four-wicket haul while Prerak Mankad put on an all-round show as Saurashtra thrashed Karnataka by five wickets to sail into the final.

Unadkat (4/26) rocked the Karnataka top-order, dismissing skipper Mayank Agarwal (1) and BR Sharath (3) cheaply, before Mankad (2/34) reduced Karnataka to 47 for four with the wickets of Nikin Jose (12) and Manish Pandey (0) in the space of four balls.

Such was the misery that seven Karnataka batters failed to get to double digits as the southern team folded for 171 in 49.1 overs. Opener Ravikumar Samarth (88 off 135 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) waged a lone battle with a valiant half-century.

In reply, Saurashtra romped home in 36.2 overs with No.3 Jay Gohil top-scoring with a 82-ball 61-run knock (8 fours, 1 six). Mankad made 35 from 32 balls (5 fours) as he, along with Gohil, put on a 53-run partnership to virtually seal the issue.