All-rounder Jesal Karia's power-packed performance helped Gujarat beat Maharashtra by five wickets in a west zone leg match of the Vijay Hazare trophy, here today.
Batting first, Maharashtra scored 266 for nine in 50 overs with the two Nikhils --- Naik and Paradkar contributing 64 and 41, respectively. Rohit Motwani scored 40 as Karia took two for 44 with his off-breaks. India A batsman Kedar Jadhav scored 17 while Ankit Bawne managed only 7.
In reply, it was Karia, who smacked 56 off 25 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes as Gujarat clinched the match in 48.1 overs. This was after Smit Patel (61) and Parthiv Patel (45) added 81 runs for the second wicket.
Y Venugopal Rao (31) and Rujul Bhatt (41) added 64 runs for the fourth wicket which was also significant.
For Maharashtra, left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar took two for 52.
Brief Scores: Maharashtra 266/9 in 50 overs (Smit patel 61, Parthiv Patel 45, Jesal Karia 2/44)
Gujarat 269/5 in 48.1 overs (Jesal Karia 56 not out, Smit Patel 61, Parthiv Patel 45).
Gujarat won by 5 wickets. Points: Gujarat 4; Maharashtra 0.
