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Out-of-favour Indian batter Karun Nair broke the List A record for most runs between two dismissals during the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) on Friday, as he posted his fourth century of the competition.
During Vidarbha's match against Uttar Pradesh, Nair slammed 112 in 101 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes. Along with another century from Yash Rathod (138* in 140 balls, with 15 fours and a six), it helped Vidarbha chase down 308 set by UP thanks to a fine century from Sameer Rizwi (105 in 82 balls, with five fours and seven sixes). Now in five matches, Nair has made 542 runs at a mind-boggling average of 542.00, with four centuries in five innings and the best score of 163*. His strike rate is an unbelievable 163*. Between his last dismissal in List A cricket over a year ago against Karnataka for just five runs in VHT and this dismissal, Nair has scored a total of 542 runs, a new record, as per Wisden. The record for most List A runs between two dismissals was held by James Franklin of New Zealand, who made a total of 527 runs (scores of 70*, 45*, 77*, 108*, 72*, 98*, 17* and 40) for Gloucestershire, New Zealand and Wellington between August 2010 and January 2011. Also, Punjab registered yet another big score in the tournament, scoring 426/4 against Hyderabad. Third successive century by Prabhsimran Singh (137 in 105 balls, with 20 fours and three sixes) and fine half-centuries from skipper Abhishek Sharma (93 in 72 balls, with seven fours and six sixes) and Ramandeep Singh (80 in 53 balls, with six fours and four sixes) powered Punjab to a massive score, which is their highest score in tournament history and overall fourth-highest. Hyderabad put up a brilliant fight, as a century from K Nitesh Reddy (111 in 87 balls, with 13 fours and four sixes) and a half-century from Tanay Thyagarajan (74 in 42 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes) pushed them to 346/10, but they lost by 80 runs. Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh (4/50 in 9.5 overs) shined for Punjab. Now in six innings, Prabhsimran has made 473 runs at an average of 118.25, a strike rate of over 135, with three centuries and the best score of 150*. On the other hand, Abhishek has made 397 runs in six matches and innings at an average of 66.16, a strike rate of over 141, with a century and two half-centuries. His best score is 170. In one of the finest performances of the day, spinner Varun Chakravarthy shined for Tamil Nadu against Mizoram, taking 5/9 in 5.2 overs to help TN bundle out Mizoram for just 71 runs. With the help of Tushar Raheja (27*) and N Jagadeesan (46*), TN chased down the total without losing any wickets in just 10 overs. Also, Indian star Shreyas Iyer continued his red-hot form in domestic cricket, slamming 137* in 133 balls, with 16 fours and four sixes to guide his side to 290/9 in 50 overs from a precarious situation of 82/5 against Puducherry. Puducherry was skittled out for 127 runs in 27.2 overs, with pace-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur leading the bowling with 3/47 in eight overs. Karnataka and Indian top-order batter Mayank Agarwal also continued his brilliant form in the tournament, scoring 69 in 65 balls, with seven fours and a six against Saurashtra. Aneesh KV also scored 93 in 83 balls, with nine fours and two sixes to take Karnataka to 349/7 in their 50 overs. Despite a century from Harvik Desai (114* in 102 balls, with 10 fours and four sixes), Saurashtra was skittled out for 289 runs in 47.5 overs and lost by 60 runs. Vasuki Koushik (5/51) and Shreyas Gopal (4/63) were the top bowlers for Karnataka. Now, Mayank is the second-highest run-getter in the tournament, with 497 runs in six matches at an average of 124.25, with three centuries and a fifty. His best score is 139* and his strike rate is 115.58. Also, after some notable moments in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Bengal, Indian pace veteran Mohammed Shami made his return, taking 1/28 in eight overs against Bihar. He picked the wicket of 13-year-old wonder Vaibhav Suryavanshi (26) and Bihar was restricted to 235, with a half-century from Piyush Singh (89 in 112 balls, with nine fours) being a standout. Skipper Sudip Kumar Gharami (107* in 128 balls, with 13 fours and a six) helped Bengal chase the target with six wickets and 45 balls left. (ANI)
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