A captain's innings by Harshad Khadiwale and useful contributions with the bat from Kedar Jadav, Ankit Bawne and Azhar Ansari guided Maharashtra to a six-wicket victory over defending champions Saurashtra in the West Zone Ranji Trophy one-day tournament in Rajkot on Monday.
The victory is Maharashtra's second in the toutnament.
Chasing a target of 215, Maharashtra had a disastrous start, losing opener Ameya Shrikhande (8) and one-down batsman Sangram Atitkar (1). But Khadiwale's composed knock of 63 (61b, 11x4) and his 84-run third wicket partnership with Kedar Jadav (58 runs, 72b, 7x4) steadied the sinking ship.
Bawne and Ansari took the game away from Saurashtra by adding an unbeaten 61 for the fifth wicket.
Bawne scored an unbeaten 41 (59b, 3x4) while Ansari scored an unbeaten 38 off 33 balls, inclusive of four fours and a six.
Earlier, the Maharashtra skipper won the toss and invited Saurashtra to bat first. Maharashtra's seam bowlers Samad Fallah and Azhar Ansari utilised the early moisture to strike at regular intervals.
At one stage, Saurashtra were tottering at 49 for 6 but managed a decent total on the board thanks to Ravindra Jadeja' s 70 that came off 67 balls, inclusive of five fours and a six.
Useful contributions from Sandip Jobanputra (31), skipper Rakesh Dhruve (24) and Sandip Manirar (22) helped Saurashtra to cross the 200-run mark.
Saurashtra scored 214 and were bowled out in the 49th over. Samad Fallah was Maharashtra's most successful bowler, taking three for 29 runs, while Ansari and Khadiwale claimed two wickets each.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 214 (Ravindra Jadeja 70, Sandip Joban Putra 31, Amad Fallah 3 for 29) lost to Maharashtra 217 for 4 (H Khadiwale 63, Kedar Jadav 58, Ankit Bawne not out 41, Azhar Ansari not out 38, Balkrishna Jadeja 2 for 46, Ravindra Jadeja 1 for 32).
