Begaluru: Sparkling hundreds by openers Robin Uthappa and Vishnu Vinod set up Kerala's thrilling seven-run win over Railways in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday.
Chasing a daunting target of 352, Railways were bowled out for 344 in the final over as Kerala posted their third successive win to top Elite Group C with 12 points.
Though Mrunal Devdhar, Arindam Ghosh, Saurabh Singh and Harsh Tyagi scored fifties, Kerala kept their nerve to pick up four vital points. M D Nidheesh picked up two wickets off successive balls in the final over to clinch the tie for Kerala.
Earlier, Uthappa continued his rich vein of form by smashing 100 of 104 balls. He hit eight fours and five sixes. The right-hander had made 107 against Odisha and 81 against Uttar Pradesh in the earlier games.
Vishnu scored 107 off as many balls. His knock featured five fours and four sixes. The two put on 193 for the first wicket.
Sanju Samson too joined the party with a 29-ball 61. Sanju smashed six fours and four sixes in his belligerent knock.
Once Vishnu departed with the total on 263, Kerala lost a few quick wickets before Vatsal Govind took them past the 300-run mark with an unbeaten 46.
Kerala take on Karnataka on Friday.
Brief scores: Kerala 351/6 in 50 overs (Vishnu Vinod 107, Robin Uthappa 100, Sanju Samson 61; Pradeep Poojar 2/50) bt Railways 344 in 49.4 overs (Mrunal Devdhar 79, Arindam Ghosh 64, Harsh Tyagi 58, Saurabh Singh 50; M D Nidheesh 3/83).
Points: Kerala 4; Railways 0.
