<p>Unstoppable Ruturaj Gaikwad churned out a third century on the trot but the Maharashtra skipper's effort went in vain as they went down to Kerala by four wickets in their group D clash of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Saturday.</p>.<p>Continuing his blistering form, the Maharashtra opener slammed 124 from 129 balls to help Maharashtra recover from some early jitters when they lost two wickets for 22 inside six overs.</p>.<p>Gaikwad hit nine fours and three sixes and got out to debutant seamer Suresh Vishweshar in the 46th over while trying to step up the run-rate.</p>.<p>It cost them dear as Maharashtra managed just 42 runs in the final-five to notch a below-par 291/8 in the stipulated 50 overs.</p>.<p>On Gaikwad's day, it was Kerala seamer M D Nidheesh who stole the show with a stunning 5/49 including the vital breakthrough of the dangerous Rahul Tripahi, who fell one run shy of century.</p>.<p>The Maharashtra vice-captain took 108 for his 99 and looked elegant with slamming 11 fours as he along with his skipper put on an entertaining 195-run stand for the third wicket to rebuild their innings.</p>.<p>Nidheesh also dismissed the in-form Naushad Shaikh for five, while the debutant Suresh took the prized scalp of Gaikwad as Maharashtra failed to break free in the death overs to remain under the 300-mark.</p>.<p>In reply, Kerala had a jittery start to be reduced to 4/35 in 10.3 overs but Vishnu Vinod held composure and led the chase with a 82-ball unbeaten 100 (8x4, 2x6).</p>.<p>He got a fine support from Sjomon Joseph gave a fine company with 71 not out from 70 balls (2x4, 4x6). The duo put on an undefeated 174-run stand to steer the team home in 48.5 overs.</p>.<p>Gaikwad now has 414 runs to his name in three innings at an insane average of 207 to make his case even stronger for the upcoming South Africa ODI series.</p>.<p>Gaikwad, who opens for Chennai Super Kings, had a record-breaking run in the IPL, amassing 635 runs in CSK's run to the fourth title in the UAE.</p>.<p>Gaikwad was among the four players to be retained by CSK along with MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali.</p>.<p><strong>Brief Scores</strong></p>.<p>Maharashtra 291/8; 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 124, Rahul Tripathi 99; MD Nidheesh 5/49, Basil Thampi 2/56) lost to Kerala 294/6; 48.5 overs (Vishnu Vinod 100 not out, Sijomon Joseph 71 not out, Jalaj Saxena 44, Sanju Samson 42) by four wickets.</p>.<p>Madhya Pradesh 330/7; 50 overs (Abhishek Bhandari 106, Venkatesh Iyer 71, Shubham Sharma 70; Ankit Manor 2/50, Akash Madhwal 2/58, Agrim Tiwari 2/78) beat Uttarakhand 253/9; 50 overs (Dikshanshu Negi 75, Jay Bista 53; Puneet Datey 3/35, Kumar Kartikeya 2/43, Venkatesh 2/58) by 77 runs.</p>.<p>Chhattisgarh 302/4; 50 overs (Harpreet Singh 113, Sanjeet Desai 106) beat Chandigarh 258; 48.2 overs (Manan Vohra 77, Arjit Pannu 54; Sourabh Majumdar 4/52, Sumit Ruikar 3/46) by 44 runs. </p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
<p>Unstoppable Ruturaj Gaikwad churned out a third century on the trot but the Maharashtra skipper's effort went in vain as they went down to Kerala by four wickets in their group D clash of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Saturday.</p>.<p>Continuing his blistering form, the Maharashtra opener slammed 124 from 129 balls to help Maharashtra recover from some early jitters when they lost two wickets for 22 inside six overs.</p>.<p>Gaikwad hit nine fours and three sixes and got out to debutant seamer Suresh Vishweshar in the 46th over while trying to step up the run-rate.</p>.<p>It cost them dear as Maharashtra managed just 42 runs in the final-five to notch a below-par 291/8 in the stipulated 50 overs.</p>.<p>On Gaikwad's day, it was Kerala seamer M D Nidheesh who stole the show with a stunning 5/49 including the vital breakthrough of the dangerous Rahul Tripahi, who fell one run shy of century.</p>.<p>The Maharashtra vice-captain took 108 for his 99 and looked elegant with slamming 11 fours as he along with his skipper put on an entertaining 195-run stand for the third wicket to rebuild their innings.</p>.<p>Nidheesh also dismissed the in-form Naushad Shaikh for five, while the debutant Suresh took the prized scalp of Gaikwad as Maharashtra failed to break free in the death overs to remain under the 300-mark.</p>.<p>In reply, Kerala had a jittery start to be reduced to 4/35 in 10.3 overs but Vishnu Vinod held composure and led the chase with a 82-ball unbeaten 100 (8x4, 2x6).</p>.<p>He got a fine support from Sjomon Joseph gave a fine company with 71 not out from 70 balls (2x4, 4x6). The duo put on an undefeated 174-run stand to steer the team home in 48.5 overs.</p>.<p>Gaikwad now has 414 runs to his name in three innings at an insane average of 207 to make his case even stronger for the upcoming South Africa ODI series.</p>.<p>Gaikwad, who opens for Chennai Super Kings, had a record-breaking run in the IPL, amassing 635 runs in CSK's run to the fourth title in the UAE.</p>.<p>Gaikwad was among the four players to be retained by CSK along with MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali.</p>.<p><strong>Brief Scores</strong></p>.<p>Maharashtra 291/8; 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 124, Rahul Tripathi 99; MD Nidheesh 5/49, Basil Thampi 2/56) lost to Kerala 294/6; 48.5 overs (Vishnu Vinod 100 not out, Sijomon Joseph 71 not out, Jalaj Saxena 44, Sanju Samson 42) by four wickets.</p>.<p>Madhya Pradesh 330/7; 50 overs (Abhishek Bhandari 106, Venkatesh Iyer 71, Shubham Sharma 70; Ankit Manor 2/50, Akash Madhwal 2/58, Agrim Tiwari 2/78) beat Uttarakhand 253/9; 50 overs (Dikshanshu Negi 75, Jay Bista 53; Puneet Datey 3/35, Kumar Kartikeya 2/43, Venkatesh 2/58) by 77 runs.</p>.<p>Chhattisgarh 302/4; 50 overs (Harpreet Singh 113, Sanjeet Desai 106) beat Chandigarh 258; 48.2 overs (Manan Vohra 77, Arjit Pannu 54; Sourabh Majumdar 4/52, Sumit Ruikar 3/46) by 44 runs. </p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>