Maharashtra beat Saurashtra by six wickets

Rajkot: Skipper Harshad Khadiwale led from the front with a composed 63-run innings to guide Maharashtra to a six wicket triumph over defending champions Saurashtra in a Ranji One-day match on Monday.

Khadiwale’s effort was supported by Kedar Jadav, Ankit Bawne and Azhar Ansari.

Chasing a target of 215, Maharashtra did not have a good start losing opener Ameya Shrikhande (8) and one down Sangram Atitkar (1) early.

But, Khadiwale’s knock of 63 (61b, 11X4) and his 84-run third-wicket partnership with Kedar Jadav (58) steadied the ship.

The two departed in in quick succession, but Ankit Bawne and Azhar Ansari did not give any chance to Saurashtra to come back in the game by adding unbeaten 61 runs for the fifth wicket.

Bawne made unbeaten 41 (59b, 3X4) while Ansari scored a quickfire unbeaten 38 that came off 33 balls with four fours and a six.

Earlier, Maharashtra skipper won the toss and invited Saurashtra to bat first. Maharashtra’s seam bowlers, Samad Fallah and Azhar Ansari exploited the early seaming conditions well.

At one stage, Saurashtra were tottering at 49 for six but recovered thanks to Ravindra Jadeja’s 70-run knock that came off 67 balls with five fours and a six while Sandip Jobanputra (31), skipper Rakesh Dhruve (24) and Sandip Manirar (22) helped Saurashtra to cross the 200-run mark.

Saurashtra made 214 and were bowled out in the 49th over. For Maharashtra, Samad Fallah was the most successful bowler taking three for 29, while Ansari and Khadiwale shared two wickets each.

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