Saurashtra, Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad keep QF hopes alive

A resurgent Saurashtra steamrolled Services by eight wickets to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here today.
Buoyed by their big win over Jharkhand yesterday, Saurashtra bundled out Services for 176 in 48.2 overs before knocking off the small chase in 21.4 overs.
Samarth Vyas cracked an unbeaten 114 from 66 balls, an innings studded with 12 fours and eight sixes.
Skipper Cheteshwar Pujara gave fine support at the other end with a 39-ball 45 not out (3x4, 3x6) as the duo stitched an unbroken 143-run partnership after Saurashtra lost two wickets inside eight overs.
The partnership came off just 86 balls to give a huge boost to their net run-rate (0.854) as Saurashtra (0.854) jumped past Hyderabad (-0.197) to third place despite both having 12 points each.

Saurashtra now take on leaders Vidarbha (16 points) in their crucial final group league match on February 14.

Earlier left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja returned with figures of 4/26, while pace duo of Jaydev Unadkat and Shaurya Sanandia claimed two wickets each as Services failed to get going after winning the toss at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad. Opener Soumik Chatterjee was the top-scorer with 52.
Chhattisgarh jumped to second place in the standings with a seven-wicket win over Jharkhand at the AOC Centre Thapar Stadium in Secunderabad.
Saurabh Tiwary smashed a 105-ball 107 (8x4, 3x6) as Jharkhand scored 288/9 after being put in. But Tiwary's effort went in vain as Chhattisgarh came up with a solid batting show to chase down the target with four overs to spare.

Three Chhattisgarh batsmen came up with half-centuries -- Amandeep Khare (76), Shashank Chandraker (61) and Manoj Singh (54 not out) -- while Vishal Kushwah remained unbeaten on 40 as they romped home without any fuss.
Hyderabad also remained among contention after crushing Jammu & Kashmir by 149 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. They are on fourth place with two matches in hand.
Brief Scores
At Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad: Services 176; 48.2 overs (Soumik Chatterjee 52; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/26) lost to Saurashtra 181/2; 21.4 overs (Samarth Vyas 114 not out, Cheteshwar Pujara 45 not out) by eight wickets.
At AOC Centre Thapar Stadium, Secunderabad: Jharkhand 288/9; 50 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 107, Kumar Deobrat 51; Pankaj Rao 4/43) lost to Chhattisgarh 294/3; 46 overs (Amandeep Khare 76, Shashank Chandraker 61, Manoj Singh 54 not out, Vishal Kushwah 40 not out) by seven wickets.

At Rajiv Gandhi Stadium: Hyderabad 312; 50 overs (Rohit Rayudu 130, BP Sandeep 72; Umar Nazir 5/52) beat Jammu & Kashmir 163; 34.1 overs (Akash Bhandari 3/34) by 149 runs.