Sussex skipper Cheteshwar Pujara produced a scintillating 131-ball 174 in a Group A game against Surrey at the Royal London One-Day Cup on August 14 to lead his side to a comprehensive 216-run win.
Pujara, known for his stern resilience and rock-solid defence, has unleashed as a fluent strokeplayer. The Sussex captain struck 174 off 131 against Surrey in Hove on Sunday, which powered his side to a daunting 378/6 after being put in to bat.
It was Pujara’s second consecutive List A ton after he had struck a 79-ball 107 in a narrow four-run defeat against Warwickshire on Friday. He walked in after openers Harisson Ward and Ali Orr had been dismissed by the fourth over and struck 20 fours and five sixes in an innings, which included a 205-run third-wicket stand with Tom Clark, who struck 104 off 106.
Pujara raced from 100 to 150 in just 20 balls before being dismissed by right-arm quick Conor McKerr for a List A career-best score. The 34-year-old might not have produced the goods for India in ODIs, with five innings yielding just 51 runs at 39.23, but his overall List A numbers are quite impressive.
Pujara, who was the Player of the Series in the U19 World Cup 2006 in Sri Lanka, wherein India had lost to Pakistan in the final, now has 4812 runs at 55.95 with 13 hundreds and 30 fifties.
Surrey were eventually dismissed for 162 by the 34th over, with only Ryan Patel (65 off 56) and Tom Lawes (57* off 60) managing to cross 12.
Sussex are now placed at the third position in the Group A points table with three wins from five games, while Surrey stand seventh with two points in a table led by Middlesex and Leicestershire, who have won four of their respective five games.
