Martin cracks 177

SURAT, Jan 6: A complete turnaround of fortunes for Vadodara was masterminded by prolific batsman Jacob Martin, who scored a mammoth unbe...

SURAT, Jan 6: A complete turnaround of fortunes for Vadodara was masterminded by prolific batsman Jacob Martin, who scored a mammoth unbeaten 177, to help them declare their second innings at 399 for 3, setting Gujarat an extremely difficult target of 334 for an outright victory at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium here on Wednesday, the penultimate day of the last West Zone Ranji Trophy match.

Equally important knocks were played by Connor Williams, who with his 96 added 201 runs with Martin for the third wicket, and Atul Bedade, who with a typical unbeaten 70 8215;4, 3215;6 gave the innings the impetus needed to make a declaration. The 165 of the unfinished fourth wicket stand between Martin and Bedade came in only 120 balls.

Vadodara squeezed in four overs before stumps which Gujarat openers Amrish Kotecha and Nilesh Modi negotiated successfully, scoring eight runs.

Martin and Williams, resuming in the morning at scores of 36 and 41 respectively, made their runs in tandem, mixing caution with agression. ButWilliams played across to one from off spinner Kirat Damani, was beaten and got trapped leg before on 96 239b, 14215;4, the third time in five matches that he has got out in the 90s.

Vadodara now appear to be relatively safe as far as qualifying for the Super League phase of the tournament is concerned, which they will even if the match is drawn and they end up with three points. If they manage to dismiss Gujarat for less than 333 runs, they get full honours and with the eight points will finish on top of the West Zone table with 22 points to clinch the Talim Shield.

SCOREBOARD

Vadodara 1st innings: 125

Gujarat 1st innings: 191

Vadodara 2nd innings: Moinuddin Kadri c Pathik Patel b Bhavik Patel 11, Connor Williams lbw Damani 96, Himanshu Jadhav c Pathik Patel b Rakesh Patel 3, Jacob Martin not out 177, Atul Bedade not out 70.

Extras: 42 b5, lb14, w 8, nb 15. Total: for three wickets declared in 120 overs 399

Fall Of Wickets: 1-15, 2-33, 3-234.

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Bowling:Bhavik Patel 28-6-96-1, Rakesh Patel 30-8-83-1, Seth 18-5-58-0, Hiren Patel 28-2-97-0, Damani 15-1-42-1, Parmar 1-0-4-0

Gujarat 2nd innings: Amrish Kotecha batting 6, Nilesh Modi batting 1. Extras: 1 nb 1. Total: for no loss in 4 overs 8

Bowling: Wakaskar 2-1-1-0, Tandon 1-0-6-0, Arothe 1-0-1-0