Pujara ends county stint with second innings ton

Cheteshwar Pujara brought an end to his short stint with Yorkshire in perfect fashion, scoring an unbeaten second-innings century to set up a massive win for his county.

India’s prolific Test batsman, who had gone through a lean patch on the team’s last two overseas tours, made up for what had been a disappointing start to his sojourn at Leeds. His unbeaten 133 off 182 deliveries included 17 fours, many of them via his trademark cut-shot, which kept the square boundaries at Headingley busy throughout Wednesday afternoon.

The defending champions then romped home in style against a hapless Hampshire outfit by 305 runs, their second win of the season. Their title-defence campaign though will lose its Indian flavour now and Pujara will be replaced by Aaron Finch first followed by Kane Williamson for the remainder of the county season.

It wasn’t an ordinary attack either that Hampshire had to offer with former Test bowlers, West Indian Fidel Edwards and Kiwi Andre Adams, charging in at full tilt.

But the right-hander, like he’s shown so often in his career, wasn’t going to waste a good start twice in a row, after he’d been given out contentiously against Warwickshire. The Yorkshire fans had booed the umpire on that occasion, but here against Hampshire they never stopped cheering for the right-hander from Saurashtra, as he carved himself the second 50+ score before reaching three-figures for the first time. It ensured he ended his stint with a healthy average of 52.80 in four matches.