Sarfaraz Khan slammed 157 runs off 75 balls in the Mumbai vs Goa Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture on Wednesday (December 31). The right-handed batter scored 14 sixes and 9 boundaries during his stay at the crease. While it was Goa who opted to bowl first, little did they know that a special innings from Sarfaraz was waiting for them.
Goa did get an early breakthrough with Vasuki Koushik removing Angkrish Raghuvanshi. However, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal and Musheer Khan built a solid partnership between them which provided them some solidity before Sarfaraz’s sensational batting effort completely blew away the opposition. The knock may force the selectors into considering him for a place in India squad for New Zealand ODIs, with the first match on January 11.
Mumbai post 444/8 against Goa
Riding on Sarfaraz’s 157, Mumbai posted 444/8 against Goa. Musheer Khan chipped in with a 60 while Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 46. Lower down the order, Hardik Tamore scored a blistering 28-ball 53 which gave Mumbai the lower order impetus needed to reach a strong total.
For Goa, it was a poor outing on the field. Arjun Tendulkar had another wicketless stint. Darshan Misal did scalp 3 wickets but leaked 98 runs in his 9 overs. Lalit Yadav and V Koushik scalped 2 wickets apiece while Deepraj Gaonkar also picked up a wicket.
Mumbai on top of Elite C points table
Mumbai are unbeaten at the top of the Elite C points table, having won each of their 3 matches so far. They have a net run rate (NRR) of +2.427 which is enough to show how they have dominated the tournament so far. While Rohit Sharma played for them in the first two rounds, he won’t play another match with them in this season.
Virat Kohli to play for Delhi against Railways on January 6
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli will play one more match for Delhi against Railways on January 6. Kohli has been in great nick and scored a century in the first match, following it up with a half-century in the second game for Delhi in the tournament. Both Virat and Rohit are set to be part of India’s squad for the ODI series against New Zealand.