(UTV | LONDON) – Team India Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara continued his purple patch with the bat in the ongoing Royal London One-Day Cup as he smashed his third century of the tournament in the clash against Middlesex. Playing for Sussex, Pujara scored 132 off 90 balls as his team posted a mammoth 400 for four in 50 overs.
The 34-year-old batted with an aggressive approach once again in the Royal London One-Day Cup and hit 20 fours and a couple of sixes. He breached the triple-digit mark in 75 balls. He shared a massive 240-run partnership with opener Tom Alsop to set up the foundation for a daunting total in front of Middlesex.
A century from just 75 balls for @cheteshwar1. 🤩 💯
Just phemeomenal. 💫 pic.twitter.com/z6vrKyqDfp
— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) August 23, 2022
Earlier, Pujara had blasted a 79-ball 107 against Warwickshire. He then smashed his career-best List A score of 174 in the match against Surrey. After smacking 174-run, Pujara took to Twitter and shared a few pictures from the face-off.
Another day, another win! Super proud of the team and the show they’ve put up today! Ali was outstanding 👏 @SussexCCC #SharkAttack pic.twitter.com/0WCfLHaqaJ
— cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) August 19, 2022
The Indian batter has done quite well as captain for Sussex this season in the absence of Tom Haines who sustained an injury during the clash against Leicestershire last month and was ruled out for around 5-6 weeks.
Pujara was preferred as captain over the regular vice-captain Steve Finn as head coach Ian Salisbury said that the decision was taken to give the pacer freedom to lead the bowling attack.
Pujara is coming off a sensational stint in the County Championship Division Two, where he was the second-highest run-getter with 1094 runs in 13 innings at an average of 109.40. He registered a total of five 100+ scores, including included three double-hundreds.
Following his prolific run in the county championship, Pujara had made a comeback to the Indian team for the rescheduled fifth Test against England last month.