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Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad went all guns blazing and came up with a fiery knock of 97 runs in 48 balls. Gaikwad displayed heroic performance in the Ranji Trophy campaign but was struggling in the ongoing season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. However, the batter put an end to his streak of poor innings and displayed brilliant batting prowess in the game against Services at Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad.
The batter who leads Chennai Super Kings contributed a total of 97 runs and missed his well-deserved century by three runs. Gaikwad hit six boundaries and eight maximums and finished his knock with a strike rate of 202. While the batter was going through a poor form off late, he had earlier scored 231 runs in two Ranji matches earlier this year with an average of 77.
Maharashtra post 231 runs on board, defeat Services by 41 runs
Riding on Rutuaj Gaikwad’s 97, Maharashtra came up with a total of 3321 runs in 20 overs. In return, Services could only score 190 runs with the loss of eight wickets and fell short of 41 runs to win the game. While Gaikwad top scored for his side, Vikas Hathwala led the charts for his side with 47 runs for 35 balls.
Placed in Group E, Maharashtra moved up to fourth spot in the standings with 12 points from six matches. Speaking of Gaikwad, the cricketer is set to lead Chennai Super Kings in the forthcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Gaikwad replaced MS Dhoni at the helm of the Yellow Army in the previous season of the cash-rich league. Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, the five-time IPL winners retained their skipper for INR 18 Crore.
