Maharashtra and Saurashtra defeated Assam and Karnataka, respectively, to go to the Vijay Hazare Trophy final on Wednesday.
In order to advance to their first Vijay Hazare final, Maharashtra defeated Assam by 12 runs in a high-scoring match. In the other semifinal, Saurashtra defeated Karnataka by a comfortable margin of five wickets.
Maharashtra vs Assam
Swarupam Purkayastha (95), Sibsankar Roy (78), and Rishav Das (53), who made valiant efforts, failed to help Maharashtra defeat Assam by 12 runs in Ahmedabad to advance to the final. Rajvardhan Hangargekar had a strong day, going 4 for 65 in total.
Maharashtra scored an impressive 350/7 in 50 overs thanks to Ruturaj Gaikwad's 168 and Ankit Bawne's 110. Assam responded by threatening to pursue it, but they ultimately faltered and were limited to 338/8.
When Maharashtra was put in to bat, they quickly lost the wicket of Rahul Tripathi, but Gaikwad and Satyajeet Bachhav formed a solid partnership to provide a solid foundation. After Bachhav was out, Gaikwad and Bawne worked together to add 207 runs for the third wicket.
The 25-year-old Gaikwad was eventually dismissed in the 45th over after scoring his third century in four innings. The hundred that Bawne later scored helped Maharashtra reach its impressive total.
In response, despite Maharashtra regularly picking up wickets, Assam's run-chase was spearheaded by Rishav Das's half-century. However, his dismissal in the 16th over left Assam at 103/4 and in need of rebuilding.
After that, Roy and Purkayastha put on a 133 run partnership for the fifth wicket to re-enter the game for Assam, but they were again stopped by quick dismissals. Assam's key batsman, Purkayastha, was dismissed shortly after the team reached 300 in the 45th over. After that, the lower order had little control because Assam lost and had to make a heartbreaking exit.
Brief scores: Maharashtra 350/7 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 168, Ankit Bawne 110; Mukhtar Hussain 3-42) beat Assam 338/8 in 50 overs (Swarupam Purkayastha 95, Sibsankar Roy 78; Rajvardhan Hangargekar 4-65) by 12 runs.
Karnataka vs Saurashtra
Jaydev Unadkat's four-wicket haul, Jay Gohil's 61, and Prerak Mankad's all-around performance propelled Saurashtra to the championship match in the other semi-final in Ahmedabad. Saurashtra reached the mark in 36.2 overs after bowling out Karnataka for 171, making it to the Vijay Hazare Trophy final for the first time since their successful 2008 campaign.
Karnataka was reduced to 47 for 4 as Saurashtra decided to bowl first, with two wickets each taken by Unadkat and Prerak Mankad. Mayank Agarwal, the captain, and Manish Pandey, a previous captain, were both cheaply removed from the game, and it was R Samarth's innings of 88 that kept the scoreboard moving until he was the ninth player to leave.
According to a Cricbuzz report, Manoj Bhandage's 22 was the second-highest contribution for Karnataka, who were eliminated for a pitiful score.
As a response, Saurashtra's openers Harvik Desai and Sheldon Jackson were both out for ducks, but Gohil and Samarth Vyas put together a 75-run partnership to keep their team in the game.
In addition, Gohil and Mankad shared a partnership of 50 runs before Karnataka took a couple of quick wickets in an effort to rally. But by their unbroken 33-run collaboration, Arpit Vasavada and Chirag Jani helped Saurashtra win.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra vs Assam
Maharashtra 350/7 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 168, Ankit Bawne 110; Mukhtar Hussain 3-42) beat Assam 338/8 in 50 overs (Swarupam Purkayastha 95, Sibsankar Roy 78; Rajvardhan Hangargekar 4-65) by 12 runs.
Karnataka vs Saurashtra
Karnataka 171 in 49.1 overs (R Samarth 88; Jaydev Unadkat 4-26, Prerak Mankad 2-34) lost to Saurashtra 172/5 in 36.2 overs (Jay Gohil 61, Prerak Mankad 35; Krishnappa Gowtham 2-50) by 5 wickets.