RANCHI: An unbeaten ton by Paras K Dogra (129 not out off 121 balls) and half-centuries from K B Arun Karthick and Ankit Sharma helped Pondicherry beat Services by five wickets in a Group 'E' match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Tuesday.
In another match, Azim Kazi's knock of 106 (97 balls, 7 fours, 4 sixes) enabled Maharashtra to notch a three-wicket win over Bengal.
In the Pondicherry-Services match, the former won the toss and chose to field. Ravi Chauhan, who scored a ton in the upset win over Mumbai on Sunday, continued the good form with a superb 105 (117 balls, 9 fours, 1 six).
Rahul Singh contributed 81 and skipper Rajat Paliwal made 38 as Services posted a score of 302 for 6 in 50 overs.
Pondicherry lost captain and opening batter R Ragupathy (1) in the second over when Sachidanand Pandey (3 for 55) had him leg-before wicket. Jay Pandey (18), the other opener, and Karthick (78) added 35 runs before the former fell to Pandey.
This brought Karthick and Dogra, who hit 8 fours, 6 sixes, together for the third wicket and the two added 114 runs in about 20 overs to hand Pondicherry the advantage.
Despite losing Karthick and G Chiranjeevi (2), Dogra kept going and found an able partner in Sharma (54) to power the team ahead.
The 103-run stand between Dogra and Sharma for the fifth wicket took Pondicherry closer to the target. However, Sharma was dismissed at 272 and the experienced Dogra took the team home in the company of Marimuthu Vikneshwaran (13 not out).
This is Pondicherry's second win from three games.
Services had beaten Mumbai on Sunday.
In the day's other game, Maharashtra rode on Kazi's century to beat the strong Bengal team, chasing down the target of 280 off the final delivery.
Brief scores:
Services 302 for 6 in 50 overs (Ravi Chauhan 105, Rahul Singh Gahlaut 81, Rajat Paliwal 38) lost to Pondicherry 303 for 5 in 48 overs (Paras K Dogra 129 not out, K B Arun Karthick 78, Ankit Sharma 54, Sadanand Pandey 3 for 55) by five wickets. Pondicherry: 4 points, Services: 0.
Railways 399 for 4 in 50 overs (Vivek Singh 136 (124 balls, 8X4, 6X6), Shivam Chaudhary 77, Mohammad Saif 62, Upendra Yadav 56 not out (23 balls, 3X4, 5X6), Shubham Chaubey 43 not out) beat Mizoram 145 for 7 in 50 overs (Taruwar Kohli 67) by 254 runs. Railways: 4 points, Mizoram: 0.
Bengal 279 for 6 in 50 overs (Sandip Kumar Gharami 127 (132 balls, 11X4, 2X6), Shahbaz Ahmed 62 not out) lost to Maharashtra 282 for 7 in 50 overs (AN Kazi 106 (97 balls, 7X4, 4X6), K M Jadhav 42, Ruturaj Gaikwad 40) by three wickets. Maharashtra: 4 points, Bengal: 0.
