File image of Ruturaj Gaikwad
Stylish batter Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his impressive run in the shortest format with a strokeful 80 to power Maharashtra to a seven-wicket win against Punjab in an Elite Group 'A' match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament here on Friday.
Chasing 138 for victory, Gaikwad, who was in red-hot form for Chennai Super Kings in the recent concluded IPL, smacked eight fours and three sixes in the 54-ball knock to help Maharashtra post its first victory.
He had also hit a half-century on Thursday against Tamil Nadu, which the team lost by 12 runs.
The early dismissal of fellow opener Yash Nahar for a duck in the second over did not deter Gaikwad as he batted aggressively to neutralise the Punjab attack which included Arshdeep Singh, Siddarth Kaul, Harpreet Brar and Abhishek Sharma.
Gaikwad, who reached his 50 from 36 balls, hit leggie Mayank Markande for a big six and then hoisted Brar for another maximum.
He also played some elegant shots on either side of the wicket during his impressive innings as Maharashtra shut out Punjab.
Earlier, Shubman Gill stroked his way to 44 off 39 balls (3 fours, 1 six) but the other Punjab batters failed to get going. The innings appeared to be struggling for momentum before Gurkeerat Singh Mann (41 off 32 balls) helped them recover and post a total of 137 in the 20 overs.
For Maharashtra, left-arm medium pacer Divyang Himganekar was the best bowler with 2 for 17 in four overs while A Palkar took 2 for 30.
In another match in the group, Tamil Nadu edged out Odisha by one run. There was some controversy in the last over bowled by T Natarajan as a boundary was not given though it appeared that the ball had touched the ropes which cost Odisha dear.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu had posted 165 for 5 in 20 overs thanks to B Aparajith's unbeaten 44 and a cameo towards the end by M Mohammed (27 not out)
Leg-spinner Abhishek Raut, who picked up three Tamil Nadu wickets, then returned to smash 38 off 21 balls (4 fours, 1 six) but ended up on the losing side.
Brief Scores:
Punjab 137 for 6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 44, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 41, Divyang Himganekar 2/17) lost to Maharashtra 138 for 3 in 17.3 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 80, Azim Kazi 28 not out) by seven wickets.
Goa 161 for 3 in 20 overs (Aditya Kaushik 69 not out, Shubham Ranjane 29 not out) beat Pondicherry 152 for 7 in 20 overs (Paras Dogra 84 not out, Pavan Deshpande 29, Amit Yadav 3/16, Shrikant Wagh 3/38) by 9 runs.
Tamil Nadu 165 for 5 in 20 overs (B Aparajith 44 not out, N Jagadeesan 37) beat Odisha 164 for 6 in 20 overs (Subhransu Senapati 67, Abhishek Raut 38 not out, T Natarajan 2/38) by 1 run.
