Ton-up Fazal guides Vidarbha to third win in row

Faiz Fazal returned to form with a stellar century as Ranji champions Vidarbha routed Hyderabad by 237 runs for a hat-trick of wins in the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament here on Thursday.

The left-handed opener overcame a string of poor scores with a 97-ball 103 (9x4, 3x6) before the duo of Ravi Jangid (81 from 62 balls; 6x4, 3x6) and Apoorv Wankhade (66 from 43 balls; 3x4, 5x6) took charge of the proceedings to propel Vidarbha to a huge 350/6 after they opted to bat.

In reply, Hyderabad folded for 113 in 34.2 overs with Karn Sharma returning figures of 3/38 and Shrikant Wagh claiming 2/20, as the home side suffered its first defeat from three matches.

With three wins in a row, Vidarbha led Group D table with 12 points, while the home side remained second with eight points.

In other matches, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir secured their first wins respectively, to remain in contention.

Parvez Rasool led from the front with an unbeaten 67 (80 balls; 3x4, 2x6) and he along with Shubham Pundir (55 from 47 balls; 7x4) steered them to a stunning six-wicket win over a star-studded Saurashtra with an over to spare at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad.

Chasing 268, opener Ahmed Bandy gave Jammu & Kashmir a fine start with a 66-ball 65 (11x4, 1x6) before Rasool and Pundir combined together for a match-winning 98-run fourth- wicket stand.

Ravindra Jadeja returned wicketless with 59 from his full quota, while IPL's costliest Indian buy, Jaydev Unadkat, also finished without a wicket conceding 57 from his nine overs.

Earlier, Saurashtra were struggling at 131/5 after their star players Robin Uthappa (20 from 29 balls; 2x4), Cheteshwar Pujara (27 from 64 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (13 from 30b; 1x4) were dismissed cheaply.

Arpit Vasavada revived their innings with an 85 not out from 73 balls (1x4, 6x6). He along with Prerak Mankad (67 from 48 balls; 5x4, 2x6) took them to a challenging 267/6.

At the AOC Centre Thapar Stadium in Secunderabad, Ishan Kishan came up with a captain's knock of 106 from 75 balls (13x4, 4x6) to power Jharkhand to a five-wicket win over Services with 115 balls to spare.

Brief scores (Group D): Vidarbha: 350/6 in 50 overs (Faiz Fazal 103, Ravi Jangid 81, Apoorv Wankhade 66; Ravi Teja 2/53) beat Hyderabad: 113 all out 34.2 overs (Karn Sharma 3-38, Shrikant Wagh 2-20).

Saurashtra: 267/6 in 50 overs (Arpit Vasavada 85 n.o., Prerak Mankad 67; Waseem Raza 2-45) lt to Jammu & Kashmir: 269/4 in 49 overs (Parvez Rasool 67 n.o., Ahmed Bandy 65, Shubham Pundir 55; Kamlesh Makvana 3-36).

Services: 202/9 in 50 overs (Hardik Sethi 66; Varun Aaron 3-20, Anukul Roy 2-26) lt to Jharkhand 203/5 in 30.5 overs (Ishan Kishan 106, Saurabh Tiwary 56; Vikas Yadav 2-23).