Bengaluru, Jan 16 (PTI) Vishvaraj Jadeja’s gleaming unbeaten 165 helped Saurashtra outclass Punjab by nine wickets and seal the Vijay Hazare Trophy final berth here on Friday.
Saurashtra will face Vidarbha in the title clash here on Sunday.
After Saurashtra bowlers did an excellent job in limiting Punjab to a sub-par 291, Jadeja put the opposition bowlers through the wringer in his 127-ball innings (18x4s, 3x6s).
The powerful right-hander received copious help from his opening partner Harvik Desai (64), with whom he raised 172 runs in just 23 overs, and Prerak Mankad (52 not out) as Saurashtra chased down the target in just 39.3 overs.
Jadeja and Mankad milked 121 runs for the unbroken second wicket partnership.
Saurashtra started the chase on a fortuitous note, having received five penalty runs as Punjab batters ran on the restricted areas while batting in their innings.
Saurashtra did not squander that sign of luck, following it up with a befitting batting effort.
Jadeja and Desai combined to eke out 23 runs off pacer Krish Bhagat in the seventh over, and they seldom let the momentum taper off.
Jadeja, who was dropped later at the team score of 120, brought up his fifty in 29 balls, and then settled into a calmer rhythm, taking a further 45 balls to reach his third List A hundred.
Desai fell in between, cutting pacer Gurnoor Brar to Naman Dhir at point but that was a minor aberration as Jadeja went past his maiden 150 in List A matches.
Soon, the powerful batter brought the winning runs for Saurashtra through a boundary off Dhir.
Earlier, Punjab squandered a strong start to end up with a below-par total.
Harnoor Singh and skipper Prabhsimran Singh added 60 runs for the opening wicket before the former was run out.
The second wicket stand was even more productive, 109 runs being generated between Prabhsimran and Anmolpreet.
Prabhsimran was the dominant partner as the right-hander pulverised Saurashtra attack with some patented big shots on the leg-side.
But his unrestrained aggression led to his downfall too — a massive heave off pacer Chirag Jani finding a substitute fielder in the deep.
But Anmolpreet continued to pile runs steadily, reaching his hundred in 103 balls. The right-hander reached the landmark with flair, smashing Jani for two fours in succession to reach 97 and then a two and single taking past 100.
The knock also helped Punjab recover from losing two wickets — Naman Dhir and Nehal Wadhera — in as many balls in the 36th over to reach 275 for four in the 47th over.
But the dismissal of Anmolpreet by Chetan Sakariya changed the course of the game. From 275 for 5, Punjab lost the next five wickets for mere 16 runs as the pacer produced a fine little death spell.
It proved vital in the context of the game as Saurashtra hunted down the target with ease under lights where the Punjab bowlers struggled to find any kind of assistance. PTI UNG SSC SSC
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