da supremo： Alkesh Jadav’s unbeaten half-century saved Saurashtra the blushes asthey managed to earn a draw against Maharashtra in the West ZoneUnder-14 tournament at the Rajkot Municipal Corporation Cricket Groundon Wednesday
da bet vitoria： Staff Reporter24-Jan-2001Alkesh Jadav’s unbeaten half-century saved Saurashtra the blushes asthey managed to earn a draw against Maharashtra in the West ZoneUnder-14 tournament at the Rajkot Municipal Corporation Cricket Groundon Wednesday. The hosts were lucky to gain three points whileMaharashtra went home with five.Saurashtra skipper Ashish Amarkhotiya won the toss and invited thevisitors to bat. But his decision backfired. Maharashtra skipperRohit Kakade was more than happy to bat on the Rajkot pitch as henotched up 187 off 248 balls. His innings was laced with a series of25 hits to the fence, making a hundred runs in boundaries. Kakade andNikhil Paradkar added a huge 272-run partnership off 64 overs for thethird wicket. Paradkar scored 108 off 186 balls with twelve well timedhits to the fence. Paradkar was the first to be dismissed when hemistimed a delivery from Sandeep Chavda to Pratik Patel. Thepartnership ended with the score at 312. Two quick wickets fell at thescore of 330 and one run later the prolific Kakade was back in thepavilion. The visitors were bowled out for 432 in 119.2 overs. AjinkyaJoshi was unbeaten with 58 off 106 balls with seven boundaries.Sandeep Chavda was the most successful bowler bagging five for 87.In reply, the hosts began on a happy note with both openers KaranMakwana (53) and Cheteshwar Pujara (34) giving them a steady start.The middle order failed to capitalise on the decent start as they slidto 231 all out in 123.5 overs giving Maharashtra a 201-run lead.The hosts followed on and their second essay was similar to the first.The Maharashtra bowlers had the top order back in the pavilion in the30th over as the hosts collapsed to 51 for six. Only a gritty inningsby Alkesh Jadav helped them to salvage a draw. Jadav returned unbeatenon 57 off 160 balls with nine boundaries. Ruben Dahad, Ajinkya Joshiand Nikhil Munde all chipped in with two wickets each. Saurashtraended the day on 123 for nine off 70 overs earning a draw.
