An explosive triple century by Ravindra Jadeja propelled Saurashtra to a towering 545 in their first innings on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match against hosts Orissa at the Barabati stadium here today.
Jadeja, who was unbeaten at 141 yesterday, steered his team virtually singlehandedly to a formidable total of 545 runs with his majestic 314 which came off 375 balls.
Displaying skillful batsmanship, Jadeja sent the ball in all directions striking 29 hits to the fence and nine over it during his 558-minute stay in the middle before being caught by Biplab Samantray off Deepak Behera.
Apart from Jadeja, Bhushan Chauhan scored 83 off 171 balls with the help of 15 boundaries, while Pratik Mehta made 39 striking six hits to the fence.
Saurashtra, who were 417 for six wickets, at lunch today moved to 518 for 8 at tea before ending the innings with 545. For Orissa, Basanta Mohanty scalped four wickets giving away 86 runs, while Deepak Behera and Jayanta Behera captured two wickets each.
In reply, Orissa scored 51 for no loss when stumps were drawn on the second day's play with Bikash Pati (34) and Natraj Behera at (17) at the crease.
Brief scores: Saurashtra first innings: 545 all out (Ravindra Jadeja 314, Bhushan Chauhan 83, Pratik Mehta 39, Basanta Mohanty 4/86). Orissa first innings: 51 no loss.