Lucknow: Ruturaj Gaikwad scored the third consecutive half a century (81 of 47 of 47 balls) and powered Maharashtra with a 27-run victory over Odisha in the elite group of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 Cricket Tournament on Saturday.
In another group match, defending champion Tamil Nadu expelled 130 at 16.1 excessive to the Pondicherry to register their third consecutive victory.
In the Maharashtra-Odisha match, Skipper Gaikwad won a throw and chose the bat and led the way for the team.
After the assessment of the fifties against TN and Punjab, the stylish right hander played with Odisha’s attack and shared a 131-run partnership for the second goal with India to throw the Jadhav kedar, which made 55 balls.
Quickfire partnerships that come less than 12 overs put Maharashtra on the track for a big score.
Gaikwad plays an elegant trademark drive and does not hesitate to go for a big shot.
The dismissal on the 15th came as some relief for Bowlers Odisha because the rest of the batterst could not continue in the same vein.
In return, Odisha lost Skipper Rajesh Dhupar with a score of 18 and saves the second goal partnership 56 times between Anshy Rath (34) and SUBHRANSHU SUNAATHI (27), the dough cannot compete for the Maharashtra Bowlers fight.
Medium left-arm-Pacer Divyang Himangekar is the best bowler for Maharashtra, the figure returned 4 for 35.
Meanwhile, Skipper Tamil Nadu n Jagousesan sent Pondicherry to Bat and Bowler, spinner left arm in particular, never allowed them to leave.
Doubt (32) Fabid Ahmed (27) and captain D Rohit (25) contributed but the team could only collect 129 for 8 in 20 overs.
Kidal C opening C day Nishaanth gave its way to unbeatable from 49 balls when Tamil Nadu remodel the target on 17.
Brief scores: Pondicherry 129 for 8 in 20 overs (doubt 32, Fabid Ahmed 27, R Sai Kishore 4/28) lost Tamil Nadu 130 for 2 in 16.1 overs (c day nishaanth 75 not out, b aparajith 28, sagar p udheshi 2/22) by eight goal.
TN: 4 Points, Pondicherry: 0.maharashtra 183 for 8 in 20 Overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 81, Kedar Jadhav 55, Debata Pradhan 3/37, Bikash Rout 2/29) Beat Odisha 156 in Overs (Anshy Rath 34, Abhishek Raut 29 , Divyang Hampganekar 4/35, Ashay Palkar 3/13) with 27 walks.
Maharashtra: 4 Points, Odisha: 0..
197 For 4 in 20 Overs (Prabhsimran Singh 119 Not Out (61 Balls, 11×4, 6×6), Shubman Gill 40, Abhishek Sharma 25) Beat Goa 116 for 8 in 20 Overs (Suyah S Prabhudesai 30, Siddharth Kaul 3/21, Harpreet Brar 2/12, Mayak Markande 2/29) of 81 Run.
Punjab: 4 points, Goa: 0.