Ahmedabad,February 16: In an exhibition of unedited power hitting, Yusuf Pathan scored the fastest century in India’s first class cricket and guided Baroda to a seven-wicket win over Maharashtra in an inconsequential West Zone match for the Vijay Hazare trophy. Saurashtra and Mumbai have already qualified on Sunday.
Taking guard when Baroda were 99/3 in the 23rd over while chasing Maharashtra’s 230, Yusuf (108 off 42balls; 10×6, 8×4) massacred the mediocre Maharashtra attack. He opened with a defensive shot but followed it up with a well-timed square cut off Kiran Adhav.
The next ball flew to long-on where Sajin Sureshnath messed it up and Yusuf earned a six. He then rubbed salt on Adhav’s wounds by sending the following ball out of the ground in the same direction.Then there was no looking back.
The fielders and Yusuf’s partner Abhimanyu Chauhan at the other end remained mere spectators as the 27-year-old ruled the 22-yard strip.
After the match, when informed about the record, Yusuf said he was not aware of it. “I just played my natural game. Their bowlers were bowling well but I was on them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gujarat slumped to their fourth successive defeat in the tournament. Saurashtra defeated the hosts by eight wickets to win the Zonal trophy. In-form Chirag Pathak and Cheteshwar Pujara slammed centuries as Saurashtra successfully chased Gujarat’s total of 236