Saurashtra lifted the Vijay Hazare Trophy by 5 wickets against Maharashtra. Sheldon Jackson mustered a fine century in the finale. His unbeaten 133 concealed Ruturaj Gaikwad’s ton as the team chased down 249 with three overs still in hand. Saurashtra bagged their second Vijay Hazare trophy, lifting the first in 2007-2008.
Maharashtra’s captain found himself in a helpless position as Chirag Jani’s army had put breaks at regular intervals. The all-rounder also had his hat trick that restricted Maharashtra to just 249/8 in 50 overs. Gaikwad on the other hand became the first cricketer to score 4 centuries in one edition, two times. In his third successive ton, he mustered a double century followed by 168 runs in the knockouts.
Vijay Hazare Trophy finale
Saurashtra won the toss and elected to bowl first. They restricted Maharashtra to 248/9 in 50 overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 108 runs off 131 balls after a slow start. The openers stitched a total of 125-run partnership. Sheldon Jackson mustered a ton too and remained unbeaten. His 133 off 136 helped the team win in 46.3 overs with five wickets to spare.
Maharashtra mostly relied on Ritiraj Gaikwad and Ankit Bawne’s top-order form. Bawne smashed 751 runs in eight innings, while Gaikwad mustered 552 in four games. His seven sixes in one over will was memorable. They are the third and fourth-highest run scorers of this edition.
Prior to the competition final, Maharashtra batters boasted of scoring a lot of runs, but Gaikwad failed to repeat their prior performances against a tough Saurashtra bowling attack. Maharashtra couldn’t continue to score runs in bulk after the 30th over.
Brief Scores: Maharashtra 248/9 in 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 108, Chirag Jani 3/43) vs Saurashtra 249/5 in 46.3 overs (Sheldon Jackson 133 not out). Saurashtra won by 5 wickets.
Read more: IPL 2023: Top 10 Underrated players whom franchises will be eyeing this auction
