Maharashtra’s young batter Arshin Kulkarni had a dream debut in List A cricket as he slammed a hundred in his maiden outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25. Playing his first match in the domestic 50-over tournament, the 19-year-old hit 107 as he helped Maharashtra get to 275 in their quarterfinal against Punjab on Saturday, January 11 at Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara.
Arshin opened alongside captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and while Arshdeep Singh troubled the batters with his early swing and seam, the Southpaw kept motoring along. He stitched a 145-run partnership for the third wicket with Ankit Bawne and brought up his hundred in the 41st over off Abhishek Sharma with a single.
Arshin was dismissed for 107 when he was caught out by Abhishek Verma off Arshdeep in the 45th over. In his stroke-filled knock, he hit 14 fours but no six in the 137 deliveries he was out there.
Bawne played a good hand alongside Arshin as he made 60 from 85 balls. Nikhil Naik and Satyajeet Bachhav scored some crucial quick runs in the end to take Maharashtra to 275/6. They were not looking to get to even 250 at one stage but Nikhil’s 52-run knock from 29 balls, laced with three fours and as many sixes and Satyajeet’s 20 from 15 deliveries, filled with a six and a four, took them to a strong total.
From the Punjab side, Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers, having taken three wickets for 56 in his nine overs. He took apart Gaikwad with a brilliant delivery that cleaned him up in the opening over, before accounting for Siddhesh Veer in the third over. Abhishek Sharma was the most economical bowler with figures of 1/42 in his 10 overs.
In the other quarterfinal between Karnataka and Baroda, Devdutt Padikkal hit a hundred too. He made a fiery 102 from 99 balls with 15 fours and two sixes before getting dismissed in the 32nd over. Aneesh KV played a good hand of 52 from 64 balls, while contributions from Smaran Ravichandran (28), Krishnan Shrijith (28), Abhinav Manohar (21), Shreyas Gopal (16) and Prasidh Krishna (12) took them to 281/8 in their 50 overs.
