Vijay Hazare Trophy: Sarfaraz slams his second List A ton
A magnificent ton by Sarfaraz Khan powered Mumbai to the preliminary quarter-finals of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. The right-handed batter smashed 117 as Mumbai beat Railways by five wickets, chasing 338. Earlier, Prithvi Shaw laid the foundation for Mumbai's win with a 51-run knock. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane too slammed a pivotal 88. He added 152 runs with Sarfaraz for the fourth wicket.
Second List A ton for Sarfaraz
Sarfaraz slammed his second century in List A cricket. He has raced to 469 runs from 26 matches at an average of 39.08. The tally includes a strike rate of 95.91. Sarfaraz made his List A debut in March 2014 for Mumbai against Saurashtra. The youngster also has 2,928 and 1,071 runs in First-Class and T20 cricket, respectively.
His highest score in List A cricket
Sarfaraz was the top scorer of the match. He smashed 117 off 94 balls, finishing with a strike rate of 124.47. He hammered 10 fours and 5 sixes. This is now his highest score in List A cricket.
A stellar season for Sarfaraz
Sarfaraz has been on a roll in domestic cricket of late. He finished as the leading run-scorer of the 2021/22 Ranji Trophy, having slammed 982 runs from five matches at an average of 122.75. Sarfaraz hammered five tons, including one in the final. However, Mumbai finished as the runners-up. Meanwhile, Sarfaraz's 31-ball 36 (in the final) helped Mumbai clinch the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
How did the match pan out?
Pratham Singh (109) and Mohammad Saif (92) propelled Railways to 337/5. In reply, Mumbai batters played aggressively and never allowed the required rate to go up. Besides Shaw, Rahane, and Sarfaraz, Shams Mulani slammed an unbeaten 31-ball 46, as Mumbai crossed the line with nine balls to spare. Susheel Kumar scalped three wickets for Railways. However, Sarfaraz was the standout performer.
Mumbai finish second in Elite Group E
Mumbai finished Group E in second place with four wins in six games. While Bengal's tally reads the same, Mumbai boasts a better NRR (+1.388). Rahane's men will now feature in the Preliminary quarter-final round. Maharashtra topped the group with six wins.
