BENGALURU: In glorious form, Robin Uthappa scored his second century in three Vijay Hazare Trophy matches as the opener hammered 100 off 104 balls on Wednesday to help his adopted Kerala team to a seven-run win against the Railways in a Elite Group C encounter.
Uthappa scored 107 against Odisha and then 81 against Uttar Pradesh, both in Alur, Karnataka, and on Wednesday he helped Kerala to 351 for six wickets in 50 overs at the Just Cricket Academy Ground. Vishnu Vinod gave admirable company to Uthappa (8x4s, 5x6s) as he also scored a century (107, 107 balls, 5x4s, 4x6s) and both were involved in a 193-run partnership for the opening wicket.
At No.3, Sanju Samson slammed a 29-ball 61 and down the order VathsalGovind scored an unbeaten 46 (34 balls, 2x4s, 3x6s). For the Railways, Pradeep T. and captainKarn Sharma bagged two wickets apiece.
In reply, the Railways put up a tough fight with four of their batsmen scoring half-centuries. Opener MrunalDevdhar made 79 off 80 balls (9x4s), ArindamGhosh (62-ball 64), Harsh Tyagi (58 off 32), and Saurabh Singh (50 off 52) reached half-centuries, but the Railways as a unit failed to cross the line.
All five Kerala bowlers captured wickets, with M.D. Nidheesh being the most successful with three wickets while SreeSanth, captainSachin Baby, and N.P. Basil bagged two apiece. (IANS)