Cheteshwar Pujara slams another ton as Sussex trumps Somerset in high-scoring tie

Cheteshwar Pujara (Pic: AFP)

Cheteshwar Pujara continued his renowned love affair with the English summer as he scored his second List A ton in three games to guide Sussex to a comfortable four-wicket victory over Somerset in a One Day Cup game. He anchored a 319-run chase with an unbeaten 117 off 113 balls to take Sussex home with 11 balls to spare on Friday.

Pujara's ton, however, did not bring about any change in Sussex's position in the group table as they remained at the bottom of group B among nine teams after notching up their first win in this year's competition.

Pujara, who last played for India in the World Test Championship final before being dropped for the subsequent tour of West Indies, has been in prime form for the better part of the last two County seasons for Sussex where he has scored in both first-class and List A games.

In fact, Pujara joined Sussex for the remainder of the season after completing his Duleep Trophy assignment for the West Zone.

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For someone, who is considered a red-ball specialist, Pujara enjoys an astonishing List A average of 58.48 in 121 games and Friday's ton was his 16th in the 50-over format. He hit 11 boundaries in the process.

For Somerset, Andrew Umeed (119) and Curtis Campher (101) added 163 runs as they scored 318/6 in 50 overs on a good batting strip.

While chasing, Pujara kept the scoreboard ticking at one end while adding 88 runs with Tom Alsop (60) and a few more short but useful stands that took them past the target.

Pujara's sequence of scores in one-day competition is 23 vs Durham, 106 not out vs Northamptonshire, and 56 vs Derbyshire before this game.

(With agency inputs)