VHT: Bharat surpasses 2,000 List A runs with seventh century
Andhra skipper KS Bharat led from the front against Arunachal Pradesh in round 2 of the 2023 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Bharat led Andhra to a dominating nine-wicket win with a brilliant ton. Notably, this was his seventh century in List A cricket. Andhra comfortably chased down the 235-run target in only 34.1 overs to register their first win this season. Here's more.
A well-paced knock from Srikar Bharat
Andhra lost their veteran batter Hanuma Vihari early on but Bharat provided them with that stability along with fellow opener Ashwin Hebbar. The duo complimented each other brilliantly as they stitched a partnership of 226* runs. Bharat slammed a 108-ball 117* while Hebbar finished with 103* off 93 deliveries. The wicket-keeper hammered as many as 16 fours during his scintillating knock.
Seventh List A century, surpasses 2,000 runs
With this knock, Bharat has surpassed 2,000 runs in List A in 66 matches. He has compiled 2,087 runs in this format, while slamming seven centuries and six fifties. He also owns an average in excess of 33. Bharat also completed the tally of 200 boundaries (215) along with 38 sixes. He has featured in five Test matches for India, scoring 129 runs.
Second-highest partnership in the 2023 Vijay Hazare Trophy
Bharat and Hebbar stiched a 226*-run stand which saw Andhra win the match by nine wickets over Arunachal Pradesh. As per ESPNCricinfo, this is the second-highest partnership this season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy just behind Ravikumar Samarth and Mayank Agarwal's 267-run partnership against J&K.
Here's the summary of the game
Batting first, Arunachal Pradesh lost their captain Neelam Obi early on. But Sachin Sharma's brilliant ton (100*) and Aprameya Jaiswal's blazing knock helped them reach a fighting total of 234/4 in their 50 overs. Nitish Reddy finished with 1/37 from his nine overs. In reply, Andhra lost Vihari early but Bharat and Hebbar stitched a 226-run unbeaten stand to win by nine wickets.
