Saurashtra transcend from ridiculous to sublime, help Mumbai make grade

RAJKOT, JANUARY 9: For Saurashtra it was a week's journey from the ridiculous to the sublime. Last Sunday against Mumbai nothing worked. 3...

RAJKOT, JANUARY 9: For Saurashtra it was a week’s journey from the ridiculous to the sublime. Last Sunday against Mumbai nothing worked. 34 all out and the worst ever defeat. Seven days hence they were efficiency personified. The turnaround meant a workman like eight-wicket victory over Vadodara in the last West Zone league match on Sunday.

The irony is the hands that gave Saurashtra the severest whack some days back were clapping for them on Sunday. Vadodara’s loss meant they tied with Mumbai on points but the latter’s head-to-head advantage got them the lone qualifying spot from the West Zone.

Other than Connor Williams’ flawless ton, the most die hard of Vadodara supporters won’t have found anything to write home about their total of 228. In reply, Saurashtra reached the target losing two wickets with 3.1 overs to spare.

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SCOREBOARD
VADODARA: Moinuddin Kadri b Narendra Rana 12 (48m, 33b, 2×4); Conner Williams not out 114 (185m, 142b, 6×4, 3×6); Nayan Mongia c Nilesh Odedra b RakeshDhruv 22 (44m, 28b, 3×4); Atul Bedade st Manoj Parmar b Rakesh Dhruv 19 (19m, 20b, 2×4, 1×6); Tushar Arothe c Prakash Bhatt b Feroze Bambhania 18 (24m, 31b, 3×4); Himanshu Jadhav c Rakesh Dhruv b Harendra Jani 0 (11m, 9b); Ajit Bohite c Narendra Rana b Nilesh Odedra 14 (28m, 28b); Zaheer Khan st Manoj Parmar b Pratik Mehta 4 (6m, 5b); Darshan Mulherkar not out 9 (10m, 7b, 1×4). Extras: 16 (4lb, 3nb, 9w).
Total: 228/7 in 50 overs and 185 minutes.
Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Kadri, 9.1); 2-69 (Mongia, 19.4); 3-103 (Bedade, 24.4); 4-109 (28.3, Jadhav); 5-142 (36.1, Arothe); 6-192 (Bohite, 45.2); 7-204 (Zaheer, 47.5).
Bowling: Rajesh Garsondia 8-1-25-0 (1w, 3nb); Narendra Rana 7-0-29-1 (2w); Niraj Odedra 10-0-67-1 (2w); Rakesh Dhruv 10-1-29-2 (1w); Harendra Jani 8-0-32-1 (1w); Feroze Bambhania 5-0-33-1 (1w); Pratik Mehta 2-0-9-1.

SAURASHTRA: Vasant Kumar c Tushar Arothe Moinuddin Kadri 67 (70m, 49b, 13×4); Harendra Jani lbw R Swaroop 54 (135m, 90b, 6×4); Sitanshu Kotak 56 (55m, 92b,6×4); Prakash Bhatt 38 (45m, 42b, 5×4). Extras: 14 (1b, 7lb, 4w, 2nb).
Total: 229/2 in 46.5 overs and 182 minutes.
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 9-1-40-0 (2nb); Rakesh Patel 5-0-29-0 (2w); Darshan Mulherkar 10-0-53-0; Moinuddin Kadri 3-0-15-1; R Swaroop 10-0-35-1; Ajit Bohite 5.5-1-29-0 (2w); Tushar Arothe 4-1-20-0 (2w).

Gujarat triumph
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat ended their limited overs season on the same winning note with which they began, Nilesh Modi’s unbeaten 133 propelling them to a 29-run victory over Maharashtra in the West Zone Ranji Leagues one-dayer at Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera, on Sunday.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Gujarat made 242 for the loss of four wickets with Modi putting on 137 for the third wicket with Kirat Damani. They then skittled out Maharashtra for 213 with an over-and-a-half still to go.

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SCOREBOARD
GUJARAT: Amrish Kotecha b Sachin Aradhye 15 (34m, 24b, 3×4), Nilesh Modi not out 133 (207m, 150b, 13×4), Mihir Sheth c NiranjanGodbole b Mandar Sane 19 (83m, 48b), Kirat Damani b Mandar Sane 49 (75m, 70b, 2×4, 1×6), Bhavin Mehta run out 4 (7m, 8b), Pallav Vora not out 1 (1m, 1b). Extras: 21 (b4, lb7, nb1, w9).
Total: 242 for 4 in 50 overs.
Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Kotecha), 2-95 (Sheth), 3-232 (Damani), 4-241 (Mehta).
Bowling: Iqbal Siddiqui 10-2-58-0, Sachin Aradhye 10-2-37-2, Samir Shaikh 3-0-20-0, Sugwekar 7-0-28-0, Mandar Sane 10-0-36-1, Sagar Shah 8-0-41-0, Amit Doshi 2-0-11-0.

MAHARASHTRA: Niranjan Godbole c Vivek Parikh b Bhavin Mehta 24 (104m, 64b, 1×4), Parag Sahane b Vivek Parikh 1 (12m, 10b), Abhijit Kale c&b Mihir Sheth 41 (55m, 52b, 8×4), Shantanu Sugwekar c&b Bhavin Mehta 53 (92m, 64b, 2×4), Kaushik Aphale c Mihir Shethb Kirat Damani 25 (40m, 38b, 2×4), Sagar Shah not out 34 (57m, 33b, 2×4, 1×6), Iqbal Siddiqui c Kirat Damani b Bhavin Mehta 4 (8m, 9b), Mandar Sane b Hitesh Majmudar 1 (1m, 1b), Samir Shaikh b Hitesh Majmudar 0 (1m, 1b), Amit Doshi b Vivek Parikh 6 (10m, 12b, 1×4). Extras: 19(lb7, w12).
Total: 213 all out in 48.3 overs).
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Sahane), 2-54 (Kale), 3-98 (Godbole), 4-153 (Aphale), 5-166 (Sugwekar), 6-175 (Siddiqui), 7-187 (Aradhye), 8-202 (Sane), 9-202 (Shaikh).
Bowling: Hitesh Majmudar 9-3-22-2, Vivek Parikh 9.3-1-41-2, Mihir Sheth 4-1-19-1, Bhavin Mehta 10-0-38-3, Kevin Desai 6-0-28-0, Tejas Varsani 3-0-20-0, Kirat Damani 7-0-38-2.

Hyderabad bag five
HYDERABAD: Hyderabad, by virtue of their first innings 43-run lead, claimed five points while Karnataka gained 3 after their four-day South Zone match ended in a draw on Sunday. Hyderabad (29), Karnataka (27) joined Tamil Nadu (31) in the Super League. Set a target of 356 runs for an outright win, Karnatakamanaged to score 239 for 4 in 90 overs.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 255 & 312-6 decl drew Karnataka 212 & 239-4 (Barrington Ronald 64, Suji Somasunder 55 not out, NP Singh 2-48).