Raina hits third consecutive fifty as UP thrash Baroda

India discard Suresh Raina continued his red-hot form as he smashed third consecutive fifty to keep Uttar Pradesh’s final hopes alive with a seven-wicket against Baroda at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Kolkata.

New Delhi: India discard Suresh Raina continued his red-hot form as he smashed third consecutive fifty to keep Uttar Pradesh’s final hopes alive with a seven-wicket against Baroda at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Kolkata.

Chasing humongous 193 after electing to bowl first, Uttar Pradesh lost their first wicket on the very first ball of the second innings but experienced Raina joined hands with Umang Sharma to stitch 160-run partnership in 90 balls.

Having registered 126 and 61 in the previous two matches, Raina was again as at his best as he smashed a brilliant 56 off 47 deliveries. Sharma, on the other hand, scored a career-best 95 off 47 deliveries.

Five runs shy of a century, Sharma edged Atit Sheth behind the stumps as he along with Raina got out in space of six balls with 33 needed off 24, but Rinku Singh applied the finishing touches with an unbeaten 26 off 11 (4x4).

Uttar Pradesh thus returned to winning ways after their five-wicket reversal against Tamil Nadu at the Eden Gardens yesterday. They now have two wins from three matches.

With eight points from three matches each, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh will clash in a virtual semifinal tomorrow to determine the finalist from Group B.

In the second match of the day at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Saltlake, Bengal finished their campaign with an easy seven-wicket win over Tamil Nadu.

Kanishk Seth (3/26) was the pick of Bengal's attack, while Sayan Ghosh and Aamir Gani claimed two wickets each as they restricted Tamil Nadu to 129/9 after they opted to bat.

Sudip Chatterjee (51 not out from 47 balls; 6x4) struck a second successive half-century to seal the chase with 22 balls to spare. Writtick Chatterjee gave him a fine support with 44 from 32 balls (5x4).

Brief Scores

Baroda 192/3; 20 overs (Urvil Patel 96, Deepak Hooda 45) lost to Uttar Pradesh 195/3; 18.4 overs (Umang Sharma 95, Suresh Raina 56) by seven wickets.

Tamil Nadu 129/9; 20 overs (Anirudha Srikkanth 37, Kanishk Seth 3/26, Sayan Ghosh 2/19, Aamir Gani 2/16) lost to Bengal 134/3; 16.2 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 51 not out, Writtick Chatterjee 44) by seven wickets.