• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Ruturaj Gaikwads Century Averts A Maharashtra Collapse Ahead Of Ind Vs Nz Odis

Ruturaj Gaikwad's century averts a Maharashtra collapse ahead of IND vs NZ ODIs

Mayank

Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 124(113) vs Uttarakhand [Source: BCCI/X.com]Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 124(113) vs Uttarakhand [Source: BCCI/X.com]

Days ahead of India's team selection for the New Zealand ODIs, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who recently scored his maiden ODI century against South Africa, has strengthened his case for continuing to be a part of the set-up with a potentially match-winning century against Uttarakhand in Round 4 of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.

This rescue knock comes at the perfect time for the Maharashtra captain. With the reports of Shreyas Iyer's return circulating, it was crucial for the right-hand batter to send a message to the selection committee that he could still feature in the squad for India's next assignment.

Ruturaj Gaikwad's emphatic century saves Maharashtra

While batting first after losing the toss, Maharashtra lost three quick wickets inside the powerplay and were reduced to 50/3. Having come into bat at 46/2, captain Gaikwad took the onus upon himself to play through the innings and take the team to a respectable total in Jaipur, and the execution worked to the T for the skipper as he ended up scoring 124(113) with the help of 12 fours and three sixes.

During his stay at the crease, he built three back-to-back crucial partnerships with the former CSK teammate Rahul Tripathi, playing second fiddle in a 50(81) stand for the 3rd wicket and backed it up by a 109(88) partnership with Satyajeet Bachhav and added another 94 off just 57 with the Super Kings all-rounder Ramakrishna Ghosh, playing as the anchor.

As Ruturaj got to a century, Bachhav's 56(45) and Ghosh's 47(31) helped Maharashtra to a total of 331/7 in their stipulated 50 overs as they find themselves in a match-winning position.

Previously in the tournament, captain Gaikwad had also scored a quick-fire 38*(13) against Sikkim in their 8-wicket win, as they chased down 253 in just 18 overs. As things stand, Maharashtra have won one of their three matches in the competition and sits 5th in Elite C, making the ongoing clash a must-win game. A win here could potentially take them to number 3, while they will also rely on other results in the group.