An unbeaten 133 by Sheldon Jackson and a hat-trick from Chirag Jani powered Saurashtra to a five-wicket win over Maharashtra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
A solid 125-run opening stand between openers Jackson and Harvik Desai (50) ensured Saurashtra were up and running in the 249-run chase early on. Jay Gohil was dismissed for nought by Mukesh Choudhary (2/38) and Vicky Ostwal (2/20) struck twice to dismiss middle order batters Samarth Vyas and Arpit Vasavada for 12 and 15 runs respectively. That may have threatened to take the momentum away from Saurashtra but the presence of a well-set Jackson ensured that the match did not go down the wire.
A match-winning ton from @ShelJackson27
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 2, 2022
A hat-trick from Chirag Jani
A valiant hundred from @Ruutu1331
Here's how the action unfolded in the #VijayHazareTrophy #Final as Saurashtra clinched the title 🏆 #SAUvMAH | @mastercardindia
Match Highlights 🔽https://t.co/7iQ2LsJVCT pic.twitter.com/RxUEtsBQyq
Earlier in the match, Maharashtra managed to post a competitive total of 248/9 after being asked to bat first and getting off to a slow start. Maharashtra got there thanks to a third successive century from their skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. The right-hander, who scored 220* in the quarterfinal against Uttar Pradesh and 168 in the semifinal against Assam, finished with 108 runs off 131 deliveries, with seven fours and four sixes, in the final against Saurashtra.
Maharashtra found themselves in a serious spot of bother after struggling for the better part of their innings. They had put up just 105 runs from 31.3 overs when their third wicket fell and were in need of a big push. And that’s exactly what they got from their skipper.
#CricketTwitter
— The Field (@thefield_in) December 2, 2022
Quarterfinal: 220* vs UP
Semifinal: 168 vs Assam
Final: 108 vs Saurashtra
Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad with a stellar run in the #VijayHazareTrophy 🔥
📹: BCCIdomesticpic.twitter.com/yRUjjKZNWF
Gaikwad upped the ante from there on and found boundaries consistently. Saurashtra pulled things back again in the 49th over, with right-arm pacer Chirag Jani dismissing Saurabh Nawale, Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Vicky Ostwal to complete a hat-trick.
Apart from Jani, seasoned left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat provided Saurashtra with a crucial spell of bowling at the top and returned with impressive figures of 1/25 from his 10 overs.
Here’s a look at some of the reactions from the match:
WHAT. A. TON! 👏 👏
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 2, 2022
A superb 💯 for @ShelJackson27 in the all-important #VijayHazareTrophy #Final! 👌 👌
Follow the match 👉 https://t.co/CGhKsFzC4g #SAUvMAH | @mastercardindia | @saucricket pic.twitter.com/n1Zl9v9v3D
A hat-trick, two cracking tons and a heartening turnout in the stands. What more can you ask from a big final in domestic cricket. Saurashtra, deserving champions!!! #VijayHazareTrophy
— Amol Karhadkar (@karhacter) December 2, 2022
Chirag Jani became the FIRST ever bowler to take a hat-trick for Saurashtra in men's List-A cricket today.
— Rhitankar Bandyopadhyay (@rhitankar8616) December 2, 2022
Two other Saurashtra bowlers have done it in FC cricket though :-
Nyalchand Sukhlal Shah vs Baroda, 1961
Siddharth Trivedi vs Punjab, 2011#VijayHazareTrophy2022
Sheldon Jackson (batting on 105* vs Maharashtra) becomes the first Saurashtra player to score a century in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Final.
— Rhitankar Bandyopadhyay (@rhitankar8616) December 2, 2022
Previous highest for Saurashtra in a VHT Final was Cheteshwar Pujara's 94 against Karnataka in 2018.#VijayHazareTrophy2022
.@JUnadkat, what an absolute champion! Just incredible! ✨
— Sa. Gomesh | ச. கோமேஷ் (@SaGomesh) December 2, 2022
Really wish Unadkat is given player of the final, but Sheldon will get it.
— Krishna Kumar (@KrishnaKRM) December 2, 2022
Bowlers to take hat-tricks in Finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy :-
— Rhitankar Bandyopadhyay (@rhitankar8616) December 2, 2022
Abhimanyu Mithun (for Karnataka) vs Tamil Nadu, 2019
Chirag Jani (for Saurashtra) vs Maharashtra, today#VijayHazareTrophy
Jaydev Unadkat on his knees as Saurashtra celebrate winning the VIjay Hazare Trophy final. pic.twitter.com/OPLwjXRNB1
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) December 2, 2022
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Keep him out of higher levels all you want, but he continues to deliver when it matters most for Saurashtra. Played, Sheldon Jackson.
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) December 2, 2022
In the end it was apt that the two veterans of Saurashtra - Unadkat and Jackson - played starring roles in helping the team lift the #VijayHazareTrophy
— Jigar Mehta (@jigsactin) December 2, 2022
Hat-trick of hundreds for Ruturaj Gaikwad
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) December 2, 2022
Hat-trick in the final for Saurashtra's Chirag Jani
Ruturaj Gaikwad won the player of the tournament award in Vijay Hazare 2022. pic.twitter.com/ou9hPXywk4
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 2, 2022
220 in the Quarter-Final.
— Baseline Ventures (@baselineventure) December 2, 2022
168 in Semi-Final.
108 in the Final.
The man for the big occasions. Ruturaj Gaikwad, enough said 🔥#TeamBaseline #Cricket #RuturajGaikwad pic.twitter.com/HKlLGwZHKd