Karn Veer Kaushal celebrates after scoring a double century
Uttarakhand opener Karn Veer Kaushal entered the record books by scoring the first double century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, smashing 202 off 135 balls, to star in a 199-run rout of Sikkim in a Plate group match in Gujarat on Saturday.
The in-form Kaushal, who has now three 100-plus scores from seven matches, eclipsed Ajinkya Rahane's 187 for Mumbai against Maharashtra in Pune in 2007-08.
In List A cricket, which includes ODIs, the 200-mark has been breached six times by Indian batsmen -- Rohit Sharma (thrice), Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar one each. But this is for the first time it has happened in the country's domestic circuit.
Kaushal also shattered the record for the highest opening stand in List A cricket in India when he along with his opening partner, Vineet Saxena (100 runs of 133 balls), put on 296 runs to lay the foundation for Uttarakhand's 366 for two in 50 overs.
Shikhar Dhawan and Aakash Chopra had put on an unbeaten 277 for Delhi versus Punjab in 2007-08 in the previous highest opening stand.
"I felt very nice when I completed it, but I didn't know then that it was a record. I never expected it," the 27-year-old said.
"Only when I was about 30 runs short, I said to myself 'Okay, I can try for a double-century'. I got to know that I was the first one to score a double-century after I came back to the dressing room."
Sikkim's decision to bowl first backfired at the GS Patel Stadium as openers Kaushal and Saxena feasted on the bowling.
Kaushal, who debuted against Bihar in this tournament, smashed 18 fours and nine sixes in a strike rate of 149.63 on the way to his third 100-plus score -- the most in the tournament so far.
Kaushal's first century (101) was against Puducherry, while in the last match he scored 118 versus Mizoram. He now has 467 runs in seven matches at an average of 77.83 and strike-rate of 122.25, second to Meghalaya's Bisht (488 runs).
Chasing the huge target, Sikkim's outing with the bat too turned out to be one of misery as they lost four wickets for 42 inside 12 overs before half centuries by Lee Yong Lepcha and Padam Limboo took them to 167 for six in 50 overs.
The victory also kept afloat Uttarakhand's hopes of qualifying for the next round as they moved up to the second spot with 24 points from seven matches.
With one more game remaining for them against Arunachal Pradesh, they not only need to win that game but also hope that Bihar lose their last match against Mizoram in order for Uttarakhand to get through to the quarters.
One team from the plate group make the quarters.
Summarised scores:
At Anand: Mizoram 100; 42.3 overs (Taruwar Kohli 33; Inakato Zhimomi 3/8, Imilwati Lemtur 3/24) lost to Nagaland 102/2; 12.5 overs (Nitesh Lochab 49 not out; Zorinliana 2/21) by eight wickets.
At Nadiad: Uttarakhand 366/2; 50 overs (Karn Veer Kaushal 202, Vineet Saxena 100; Mendup Bhutia 2/82) beat Sikkim 167/6; 50 overs (Lee Yong Lepcha 65, Padam Limboo 51 not out; Deepak Dhapola 3/19) by 199 runs.
At Vadodara: Meghalaya 238/5; 50 overs (Yogesh Nagar 67 not out, Puneet Bisht 58; Jitender 3/29) beat Manipur 170; 45.4 overs (Yashpal Singh 106 not out; Lakhan Singh 3/24, Mark Ingty 2/23) by 68 runs.
In a thrilling group B clach in New Delhi, unbeaten centuries by Samarth Singh and Akshdeep Nath went in vain as Andhra Pradesh pipped Uttar Pradesh by one wicket.
Chasing a competitive target of 331 runs, Andhra Pradesh's openers Ashwin Hebbar (64 off 47) and Srikar Bharat (39 off 54) got the team off to a great start with an 84-run stand in 12 overs before the former was run-out.
Skipper RK Bhui was dismissed two overs later before Bodapati Sumanth (43) and Ravi Teja's unbeaten 79 off 83 helped them cruise to victory with three deliveries left.
Earlier, put in to bat, Uttar Pradesh were reduced to 45 for 3 before Samarth and Akshdeep's unbeaten knocks of 115 and 119 along with captain Suresh Raina's 52 took their side to 330 for four in 50 overs.
Samarth's innings was laced with 10 boundaries and 2 sixes while Akshdeep hit nine fours and 5 maximums.
Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 330/4 in 50 overs (Akshdeep Nath 119*, Samarth Singh 115*; Karn Sharma 1-41) Andhra Pradesh 331/9 in 49.3 overs (Dwaraka Ravi Teja 79*, Ashwin Hebbar 64; Akshdeep Nath 3-44) Andhra one by one wicket.
Saurashtra 110 all out in 34.4 overs (AV Vasavada 34 off 55 balls, CS Jani 16 off 24 balls,) Chhattisgarh 111 for one 24.2 in overs (Rishabh Tiwari 56 off 90 balls, Manoj Singh 36 off 56 balls.) Chhattisgarh won by 9 wickets.
Odisha 247/8 in 50 overs (Govinda Poddar 93, Subhranshu Senapati 41; Chama V Milind 6-43) Hyderabad 250/9 in 49.2 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 76, Akshath Reddy 63, Kolla Sumanth 43*; Papu Roy 3-38) Hyderabad won by 1 wicket.
In rain-truncated Elite Group A matches in Karnataka, Vidarbha defeated Railways by 15 runs while Karnataka went past Himachal Pradesh by 35 runs, both via the VJD method.
Put into bat by Vidarbha, Railways were restricted to a modest 226/8 in their 50 overs with their number 10 Madhur Khatri top-scoring with 58.
Railways skipper Saurabh Wakaskar, who opened the innings, scored a patient 57, but was devoid of partners at the other end.
Manish Rao, who came in at number 4, made 30, but failed to convert it to a big score. The other Railways batsmen had a bad time at the crease as they fell cheaply.
But it was Khatri who made a quick fire 58 in 43 balls which helped his side breach the 225-run mark.
For Vidarbha, Darshan Nalkande returned with fine figures of 3-42.
Vidarbha were cruising towards the target and were 176/3 in 37 overs when rain stopped the play and eventually they were declared winners.
For Vidarbha, Ganesh Satish (53 not out) and Akshay Wadkar (49 not out) made notable contributions with the bat.
With this win, Vidarbha have managed to grab four crucial points.
In the other rain-affected match, Karnataka defeated Himachal Pradesh by 35 runs via the VJD method at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to snatch four points.
After putting a strong 257/8 in 38 overs, Karnataka bundled out Himachal Pradesh for paltry 162 with K Gowtham (4-26) and Pradeep T (4-35) sharing the spoils.
For Karnataka, opener R Samarth top-scored with 98 and skipper Manish Pandey chipped in with a 43-run knock.
Meanwhile, the match between arch-rivals Mumbai and Maharashtra, to be held at Just Cricket ground in Bengaluru, was declared abandoned due to rains.
Despite the wash-out, Mumbai are in the hunt to make it to the quarter-finals, as the Vinayak Samant coached team hasn't lost any game in the tournament.
Brief Scores: Railways 226/8 in 50 overs (Madhur Khatri 58, Saurabh Wakaskar 57, Darshan Nalkande 3-41) lost to Vidarbha 176/3 (Ganesh Satish 53 not out, Akshay Wadkar 49 not out, Manish Rao 1-25) by 15 runs via VJD method.
At Bengaluru: Karnataka 257/8 in 38 overs (R Samarth 98, Manish Pandey 43, Rishi Dhawan 3-57) defeat Himachal Pradesh 162 all out in 25.3 overs (Prashant Chopra 67, K Gowtham 4-26, Pradeep T 4-35).
