Vijay Hazare Trophy: Kulkarni’s ton takes Maharashtra to victory over Mumbai, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand also win

Jaipur, Jan 3 (IANS) Arshin Kulkarni struck his second List A century as Maharashtra ended Mumbai unbeaten streak in the 2025/26 Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group C with a commanding 128-run victory on Saturday. The right-handed opener made 114 off 114 balls, hitting 11 fours and three sixes, as he shared a 140-run opening stand with Prithvi Shaw (71 off 75) after Maharashtra elected to bat first in foggy conditions.

Mumbai suffered a setback early when captain Shardul Thakur limped off after bowling just six overs. Shaw appeared set for a century before being trapped lbw by Musheer Khan, who celebrated animatedly, but Maharashtra regrouped through captain Ruturaj Gaikwad gritty 66 off 52 balls.

Kulkarni and Gaikwad added 108 runs for the third wicket, capitalising on sloppy Mumbai fielding that saw more than five catches being dropped. Ramakrishna Ghosh smashed an unbeaten 64 off 27 balls, including 30 runs off Sylvester DSouza in one over, propelling Maharashtra to 366/4.

Mumbai chase never gained momentum - Yashasvi Jaiswal lasted nine deliveries while Musheer fell for a duck as the score slumped to 4/2. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (92) and Siddhesh Lad (52) staged a recovery with fifties in a 99-run partnership before Satyajeet Bachhav dismissed the latter lbw.

With Sarfaraz Khan absent due to leg stiffness, Mumbai middle order collapsed. Raghuvanshi waged a lone battle before falling eight runs short of his maiden List A century. Shardul returned to bat despite struggling to run, but lasted just five deliveries as Mumbai were bowled out for 238 in 42 overs.

Meanwhile, Pukhraj Mann magnificent 134 off 121 balls went in vain as Chhattisgarh chased down Himachal Pradesh 320/8 with two balls to spare in a thrilling encounter. Mann, who came to the crease with his side struggling at 32/2 inside the sixth over, struck 11 fours and two sixes in a valiant effort.

He shared a 178-run partnership with wicketkeeper Innesh Mahajan, who narrowly missed his century by falling for 95, but Chhattisgarh collective batting effort, led by Aayush Pandey’s 78, proved to be decisive in the tense finish.

On the other hand, Aanjaneya Suryavanshi unbeaten 115 off 87 balls trumped Goa opener Snehal Kauthankar century as Uttarakhand overhauled a 271-run target with 3.4 overs remaining.

Uttarakhand were reeling at 83/3 before the number five batter turned the match on its head with a match-winning 191-run partnership alongside Shashwat Dangwal, who contributed a run-a-ball 70. Kauthankar 105 had earlier anchored Goa innings, but Suryavanshi explosive knock proved to be too much.

Brief scores:

Maharashtra 366/4 in 50 overs (Arshin Kulkarni 114, Prithvi Shaw 71; Tushar Deshpande 2-83) beat Mumbai 238 all out in 42 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 92, Siddhesh Lad 52; Pradeep Dadhe 3-43) by 128 runs.

Himachal Pradesh 320/8 in 50 overs (Pukhraj Mann 134, Innesh Mahajan 95; Ravi Kiran 3-65) lost to Chhattisgarh 321/7 in 49.4 overs (Aayush Pandey 78, Amandeep Khare 72; Vaibhav Arora 2-70) by three wickets

Goa 270 in 50 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 105, Abhinav Tejrana 54; Jagadeesha Suchith 3-54) lost to Uttarakhand 274/3 in 46.2 overs (Aanjaneya Suryavanshi 115 not out, Shashwat Dangwal 70; Vasuki Koushik 1-28) by seven wickets

--IANS

nr/bsk/

Source: IANS | © IANS. All rights reserved.