Saurashtra beat Haryana by 7 wickets

Rajkot, Jan 5 (UNI) Saurashtra scripted their second succesive victory, defeating Haryana by seven wickets on the last day of the four-day Elite Group 'A' match at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket ground here today.

The hosts secured four points from today's win thus taking the points tally to nine. In the previous match, they had defeated Delhi by ten wickets and secured five points.

Needing 184 runs to win Saurashtra completed the formalities in the 50th over with skipper Jaydev Shah hitting the winning boundary on the first ball of the 50th over off Nitin Saini.

A solid foundation by the opening stand of 68 runs between Prasant Joshi (27) and Sagar Jogiyani (92) helped Saurashtra win the match.

A sparkling 92 by young opener Sagar Jogiyani saw Saurashtra achieve the target of 184 in the 50th over. However, he missed his maiden century by eight runs when he was caught at forward short-leg by Amit Bhandari off Saini. His innings was studded with 18 fours and faced 133 balls.

Yesterday, the hosts, conceding 40 runs lead to Haryna, bounced back by grabbing seven wickets for 82 runs and took control of the match.

Starting second innings at the overnight score of 82 for 7, the visitors were dismissed for 143 runs, shortly before lunch break, setting the 184-run target for the hosts to win the match.

Haryana's captain Joginder Sharma remained not out on 38, while his partners at the other end made early exits, folding the innings at 143.

Left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja ran through Haryana batting line up took five wickets for 45, while his co-partner R Dhruve captured three wickets for 59.

The hosts now will clash against formidable Karnataka in their last encounter, beginning here from January 10.

On January 12, the national selectors will announce 30 probables for the World Cup and also announce the Indian Team for first two one-day internationals against West Indies.

Brief Score: Haryana Ist Innings 308 Saurahstra Ist Innings 268 Haryana 2nd Innings: 143 for all out in 64 overs (N Saini 27, J Sharma 38, Amit Mishra 18, R Jadeja 5 for 45, R Dhruve 3 for 59, S Maniar 1 for 13 and S Kotak 1 for 9) Saurashtra 2nd innings: 184 for three in 49.1 overs (Prashant Joshi 27, Sagar Jogiyani 92, S Kotak not out 37, Jaydev Shah not out 17, N Saini two for 28 and D Joon 1 for 25).

UNI