Ishan's blistering ton powers Jharkhand home

Skipper Ishan Kishan's blistering knock of 139 (91 ball), studded with 12 fours and nine sixes, powered Jharkhand to an eight-wicket win over Assam in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group 'C' match here on Monday.

The talented southpaw toyed with the rival bowling and smashed the ball to all parts of the M A Chidambaram stadium as the team reached the target of 222 in just 31 overs to boost its net run-rate.

Earlier, sent in to bat, Assam lost wickets at regular intervals to finish at 221/9 in 50 overs. Though three of their batsmen got into the 40s, none was able to push for a bigger score as the Jharkhand bowlers kept things under control. Shahbaz Nadeem, who took a world List 'A' record 8/10 against Rajasthan last week, captured three wickets for 47. Sibshankar Roy was the top scorer for Assam with 46.

Kishan and fellow opener Anand Singh (58) were on the attack from the word go and took the score to 100 in the 17th over. Kishan went on the rampage and reached his 100 off 74 balls as Jharkhand seized control. His assault left the Assam bowlers clueless as runs came thick and fast.

The left-hander hit the ball cleanly and was not afraid to go aerial and smacked nine sixes. He fell 18 runs short of the target before Virat Singh (15 n.o.) and Saurabh Tiwary (5 n.o.) took the team home.

Meanwhile, Services upset Haryana at TI Murugapa ground by five wickets, riding on Nakul Verma's knock of 95. Rahul Singh Gahlaut contributed 61 as the team overhauled Haryana's score of 257/8 in 50 overs.

In another match, Gujarat downed Tripura by 74 runs, restricting their rivals to 138/9 after making 212/6 in their quota of 50 overs. Rujul Bhatt was the top-scorer with 62 while Piyush Chawala's 4/21 turned the match Gujarat's way.

Brief scores: Assam 221/9 in 50 overs (Sibshankar Roy 46; Shahbaz Nadeem 3-47) lt to Jharkhand 222/2 in 31 overs (Ishan Kishan 139, Anand Singh 58). Jharkhand: 4 points; Assam: 0 point.

Gujarat 212/6 in 50 overs (Rujul Bhatt 62, Priyank Panchal 39) bt Tripura 138/9 in 50 overs (J R Banik 57; Piyush Chawla 4-21). Gujarat: 4; Tripura: 0.

Haryana 257/8 in 50 overs (C K Bishnoi 88 n.o., Pramod Chandila 57; Divesh Gurdev Pathania 5-42) lt to Services 260/5 in 47.3 overs (Nakul Verma 95, Rahul Singh Gahlaut 61; R K Tewatia 2-53). Services: 4, Haryana: 0.