Round 3 of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 sees Kerala locking horns with Maharashtra. Madhav Rao Scindia Cricket Ground in Rajkot will host this Elite Group D fixture. Kerala lost to Madhya Pradesh in their last fixture. After beating Chandigarh in their opening game, they failed to carry forward the winning momentum. It was a high-scoring game against the Madhya Pradesh side. After being asked to bat first, Madhya Pradesh posted a mammoth 329 on the board, losing nine wickets. Kerala batters started well in the chase but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The lack of a big partnership resulted in them getting knocked over on 289, falling short by 40 runs. Kerala needs to be on its toes against the upbeat Maharashtra side. Maharashtra, meanwhile, is off to a brilliant start to the competition. They have won both their games so far comprehensively and will be looking to keep performing in the same way. Maharashtra defeated Chhattisgarh in their last game. Bowling first, the bowlers did a good job of restricting Chhattisgarh to 275 in their 50 overs. What followed was an exhibition of batting from Maharashtra skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. Opening the batting, he remained unbeaten on 154 to guide his side across the line. Maharashtra chased down the total with three overs to spare, winning the game by eight wickets. KERALA VS MAHARASHTRA MATCH DETAILS: Match: Kerala vs Maharashtra, Round 3, Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 Date and Time: December 11th, 2021, Saturday, 09:00 AM IST Venue: Madhav Rao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot KERALA VS MAHARASHTRA PITCH REPORT The pitch at Madhav Rao Scindia Cricket Ground is good for batting. The new ball comes nicely onto the bat and the batters can play their strokes freely right from the start of their innings. KERALA VS MAHARASHTRA WEATHER FORECAST Clear skies will greet both sides on Saturday. The temperature in Rajkot is expected to range between 17 and 31 degrees Celsius. KERALA VS MAHARASHTRA PROBABLE XIS KERALA Vishnu Vinod picked up three wickets but Kerala failed to keep a check on the scoring rate as Madhya Pradesh posted 329 on the board. Rohan S. Kunnummal (66) and Sachin Baby (66) tried their level best but couldn’t take their side across the line. PROBABLE XI

• Rohan S. Kunnummal
• Mohammad Azharuddeen
• Sanju Samson (c & wk)
• Sachin Baby
• Vathsal
• Vishnu Vinod
• Jalaj Saxena
• Sijomon Joseph
• Basil Thampi
• Nidheesh M.D.
• Manu Krishnan

MAHARASHTRA Mukesh Choudhary starred with the ball, picking up four wickets. Rahul Tripathi also chipped in with two wickets. Ruturaj Gaikwad remained unbeaten on 154 and was well-supported by Yash Nahar (52) at the top of the order as they chased down 276 after losing only two wickets. PROBABLE XI

• Ruturaj Gaikwad (c)
• Yash Nahar
•  Naushad Shaikh
• Rahul Tripathi
• Swapnil Fulpagar (wk)
• Ashay Palkar
• MD Ingale
• Ankit Bawane
• Azim Kazi
• Taranjit Singh Dhillon
• Mukesh Choudhary
• Divyang Himganekar

KERALA VS MAHARASHTRA MATCH PREDICTION Kerala lost to Madhya Pradesh in their last game as everyone failed to fire in unison. Maharashtra has been on a roll in the competition so far and will be brimming with confidence. Maharashtra has a good balance to their unit and is expected to beat Kerala on Saturday.