Chikkanahalli (Bengaluru): Captain Sanju Samson's hundred went in vain as Kerala lost to Railways by 18 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy national one-day championship at the Kini Sports Arena Ground here on Tuesday.
Sanju smashed 128 and added 138 with Shreyas Gopal for the unbroken fifth wicket. Kerala were in a spot at 59/4 in the 18th over in their chase of 256 before Shreyas joined Sanju in the middle.
Sanju's 139-ball knock was studded with eight fours and six sixes. He reached his hundred off 121 balls. This was the 29-year-old's second ton in List A cricket after his 212 not out against Goa in the 2019 edition of the Hazare Trophy.
Shreyas hit five fours in his 63-ball stint. He was clean bowled by R K Choudhury for 53. It proved to be the turning point of the game.
Kerala needed 59 off the last five overs. However, the loss of quick wickets meant Sanju could not take them home. Left-arm medium-pacer Rahul Sharma gave away only nine while defending 27 in the final over.
Both Kerala and Mumbai finished with 20 points from seven games. However, Mumbai, who suffered a shock 86-run loss to Odisha, sealed the direct quarterfinal spot since they had beaten Kerala.
Kerala will take on Maharashtra in the pre-quarterfinals to be played at Rajkot on Saturday (December 9). Bengal will meet Gujarat in the other pre-quarterfinal.
Haryana, Rajasthan, Vidarbha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also sealed their spots in the quarterfinals.
Earlier, Sahab Yuvraj Singh's hundred lifted Railways to 255/5. They lost openers Shivam Chaudhary (3) and Vivek Singh (11) for 19 in the ninth over after Sanju opted to bowl. Yuvraj Singh and Pratham Singh added 148 for the third wicket to rescue them.
Pratham departed for a 77-ball 61, while Yuvraj Singh remained unbeaten on 121 off 136 balls. He hit 13 fours and a six. Captain Upendra Yadava chipped in with 31.
Off-spinner Vaisakh Chandran picked up 2/33 off his 10 overs.
Brief scores: Railways 255/5 in 50 overs (Sahab Yuvraj Singh 121 not out, Pratham Singh 61; Vaisakh Chandran 2/33) bt Kerala 237/8 in 50 overs (Sanju Samson 128, Shreyas Gopal 53; Rahul Sharma 4/44; Himanshu Sangwan 2/62).
Points: Railways 4; Kerala 0.
Knokcout schedule at Rajkot: Pre-quarterfinal 1 (PQF1): Bengal vs Gujarat, December 9
PQF2: Kerala vs Maharashtra, December 9
QF1: Haryana vs PQF1 winner, December 11
QF2: Rajasthan vs PQF2 winner, December 11
QF3: Vidarbha vs Karnataka, December 11
QF4: Mumbai vs Tamil Nadu, December 11
