Prithvi Shaw returns to form after injury.Nitish Rana’s unbeaten half-century guided Delhi to a seven-wicket win over Kerala in a Group ‘A’ match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament in Malapadu on Monday.
In other matches, Manipur trounced Nagaland by 10 wickets in a battle of newcomers while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh by five wickets.
In the Delhi-Kerala match, the latter won the toss and chose to bat but couldn’t make the most of it, posting a modest 139 for 7 in 20 overs.
Skipper Ishant Sharma struck the first blow for Delhi, having K B Arun Karthick caught and bowled for a duck and Kerala never really got going as the impressive Navdeep Saini got Rohan Prem (8), to a return catch.
A fifth-wicket partnership of 60 runs between captain Sachin Baby (37) and Vinoop Sheela Manoharan (38) sparked a brief revival but Kerala lost its way towards the end of the innings, losing wickets and ended up at 139.
All the Delhi bowlers got a wicket each with Saini (1 for 17 with 11 dot balls) being the most impressive of the lot.
Hiten Dalal (28, 20 balls, 1X4, 3X6) and Unmukt Chand (33, 2X6) gave Delhi a strong start, before the former was bowled by Basil Thampi in the fifth over.
Dhruv Shorey didn’t last too long, falling eight runs later for 4, but Chand and Rana (52, 36 balls, 4X4, 2X6) were involved in a solid partnership.
Chand and Rana took the match away from Kerala by rotating the strike and also coming up with big hits now and then. Chand, in particular, hit two massive sixes while Rana opened up after starting slowly.
Kerala struck a blow when Sandeep Warrier had Chand caught by Daryl S Ferrario.
However, the left-handed Rana made sure that there were no hiccups as he guided the team home in Himmat Singh’s company.
It was Delhi’s third win on the trot after losing the opening match to Jharkhand and is now on 12 points.
Jharkhand heads Group ‘A’ with 12 points from three games.
In the afternoon game, J&K overhauled Andhra’s total of 146 with nine balls to spare to register a five-wicket win.
Brief scores:
Kerala 139 for 7 in 20 overs (Vinoop Sheela Manoharan 38, Sachin Baby 37) lost to Delhi 140 for 3 in 18.3 overs (Nitish Rana 51 not out, Unmukt Chand 33).
Points: Delhi: 4 (12), Kerala: 0 (8).
Andhra 146 for 7 in 20 overs (Srikar Bharat 41, Hanuma Vihari 28) lost to J&K 148 for 5 in 18.3 overs (Shubam Pundir 51, Parvez Rasool 31, B Ayyappa 2 for 23).
Points: J&K: 4 (8), Andhra: 4 (4).
Nagaland 132 for 7 in 20 overs (Abrar Kazi 36, Priyojit Singh 3 for 23) lost to Manipur 134 for no loss in 16.3 overs (Mayank Raghav 80 not out, P Prafullamani 51 not out).
Points: Manipur: 4 (4), Nagaland: 0 (0).
Mumbai continue winning streak; Shaw shines Indore
Young prodigy Prithvi Shaw found his mojo back as domestic giants Mumbai Monday cantered to a fourth straight win in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, hammering Goa by six wickets in a Group C game of the T20 tournament here.
Earlier, Mumbai had defeated Sikkim, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh in the premier domestic T20 tournament.
Mumbai rode on Shaw’s blazing 71 off just 47 balls to reach the target of 140 with 10 balls to spare.
Shaw, who struggled in the last three games, finally found momentum and registered his first fifty of the tournament.
The 19-year-old batsman’s quickfire knock was studded with five boundaries and seven sixes.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane (31) played his part to perfection as the duo laid the foundation stone of the win with a 95-run opening stand.
Mumbai slumped to 117/4 from a healthy 95/1, but experienced Surya Kumar Yadav (24 not out) steered the side home at the Emeralds Heights International School Ground.
Earlier, Mumbai bowlers did a decent job to restrict Goa to 140 for 4 in their 20 overs.
Goa openers Sagun Kamat (27) and skipper Amogh Desai (38) got starts, but were unable to convert them into big scores.
The duo added 58 runs for the first wicket, but both fell in quick succession.
One-down Amit Verma (27) and wicket-keeper Keenan (26) were also looking good, but Mumbai bowlers sent them back to the pavilion before they could consolidate further.
Mumbai bowlers – Dhawal Kulkarni (1-31), Shardul Thakur (1-25), Shubham Ranjane (1-19) and Shams Mulani (1-20) – put in collective efforts to deny Goa a big score.
Brief scores:
At Indore: Goa 140/4 (Amogh Desai 38, Sagun Kamat 27; Shubham Ranjane 1-19) lost to Mumbai 141/4 (Prithvi Shaw 71, Ajinkya Rahane 31; Vijesh Prabhudesai 1-11) by six wickets.
Mumbai 4 points, Goa 0 points.
At Indore (Holkar Stadium): Madhya Pradesh 159/6 (Naman Ojha 74, Parth Sahani 40; Amit Mishra 3-19) lost to Railways 161/5 (P S Singh 61, Ashish Yadav 32 not out; Mihir Hirwani 3/20) by five wickets.
Railways 4 points, MP 0 points.
At Holkar Stadium: Sikkim 75 (Milind 28, Nilesh Lamichaney 13; Jaydev Unadkat 2-9) lost to Saurashtra 79/3 (Cheteshwar Pujara 39 not out, Sheldon Jackson 24; B B Sharma 3-23) by seven wickets.
Saurastra 4 points, Sikkim 0 points.
At Surat: C B Patel ground: Vidarbha 117 (J M Sharma 49, Atharva Taide 23; S K K Ahmed 5-18, Nathu Singh 2-11) won against Rajasthan 73 (M N Singh 24, Robin Bist 22; Akshay Karnewar 4-7, R L Jangid 2-11) by 44 runs.
Vidarbha 4 points, Rajasthan 0 points.
At Lalbhai Contractor Stadium: Tamil Nadu 125/6 (N S Chaturved 34, M S Washington Sundar 33; A Nagwaswalla 3-11, Piyush Chawla 2-16) won against Gujarat 124 all out (Chirag Gandhi 68 not out, Priyank Panchal 14; Washington Sundar 2-10, R Sai Kishore 1-19) by 1 run.
Tamil Nadu 4 points, Gujarat 0 points.
At Lalbhai Contractor Stadium: Bihar 78 all out (Asfahan Khan 25, Piyush Kumar Singh 21; G K Singh 2-11, Ankit Rajan Maini 2-14) lost to Himachal Pradesh 81/1 (A K Bains 54 not out, P S Chopra 14; Samar Quadri 1-14) by nine wickets.
Himachal Pradesh 4 points, Bihar 0 points.
Karnataka cruise to fourth win; Assam stun Bengal
Karnataka thrashed minnows Mizoram by 137 runs to cruise to their fourth win on the trot and consolidate the position atop Group D in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament here Monday.
Opting to bat, Karnataka toyed with the Mizoram attack to post a huge 242/4 in the stipulated 20 overs.
In reply, Mizoram were restricted to 105/6 with leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal claiming 4 for 8 from his four overs to hand his team a simple win at the Barabati Stadium.
Karnataka have 16 points from four matches, four points clear of Assam, who jumped to second spot following their stunning 26-run win over former champions Bengal at the Barabati Stadium.
At the DRIEMS Ground in Tangi on the outskirts of Cuttack, it was mayhem by the Karnataka batsmen.
First, Rohan Kadam (78 from 51 balls; 6×4, 3×6) and Mayank Agarwal (20 from 14 balls; 3×4) put on a 52-run opening stand in just 4.2 overs.
After Agarwal departed, Karun Nair joined the party and plundered 71 off just 33 balls, smashing five sixes and an equal number of boundaries to set the tone.
Later skipper Manish Pandey struck 33 not out from 13 balls (3×4, 1×6) with Jagadeesha Suchith also finishing on a high with his eight ball 26 not out (3×4, 2×6).
At the Barabati Stadium, Sibsankar Roy hit a brilliant 83 off 53 balls (12×4, 1×6) to help Assam recover from 10/2 inside third over, following Ashok Dinda’s double blow in successive overs.
Roy was eventually run out by Abhimanyu Easwaran but Riyan Parag’s quickfire 52 from 47 balls ensured Assam reach a competitive 162/5.
Dinda finished with impressive figures of 4/17 but that did not help the cause as Bengal put up yet another sloppy batting display to suffer their second defeat.
Brief Scores:
At Barabati Stadium: Arunachal Pradesh 75 in 19.4 overs (Debabrata Pradhan 3/10, Rajesh Mohanty 2/17, Biplab Samantray 2/6) lost to Odisha 76/2 in 13.1 overs (Abhishek Raut 41 not out) by eight wickets.
Assam 162/5; 20 overs (Sibsankar Roy 83, Riyan Parag 52; Ashok Dinda 4/17) beat Bengal 136/9; 20 overs (Shreevats Goswami 43; Abu Nechim 2/25, Mukhtar Hussain 2/32) by 26 runs.
At DRIEMS Ground, Tangi: Karnataka 242/4; 20 overs (Rohan Kadam 78, Karun Nair 71; HM Ralte 2/48) beat Mizoram 105/6; 20 overs (Akhil Rajput 41; Shreyas Gopal 4/8) by 137 runs.
Haryana 210/5; 20 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 65 not out, Rahul Tewatia 59 not out, Sumit Kumar 43; Shakeeb Ahmed 2/39) lost to Chhattisgarh 211/5; 20 overs (Rishabh Tiwari 62, Amandeep Khare 60, Harpeet Singh 49) by five wickets.
Uttar Pradesh hammer Puducherry by seven wickets
Captain Priyam Garg smashed 54 off 30 balls to guide Uttar Pradesh to a seven wicket win over Puducherry in a Group E match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy here on Monday.
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Opting to bat, Uttar Pradesh rode on Garg and openers Upendra Yadav (36) and Samarth Singh’s (29) knocks to post a commanding 179 before their bowling attack spearheaded by Saurabh Kumar (4/14) restricted Puducherry to 102 for six.
The top-order of Puducherry failed and the middle-order too were unable to stitch a match-winning partnership. Fabid Ahmed was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 25.
In other matches, Services thrashed Baroda by seven wickets while Uttarakhand got the better of Tripura by 37 runs. Elsewhere, Hyderabad suffered their fourth straight defeat in as many matches at the hands of Maharashtra by seven wickets.
In Palam A Stadium, Uttarakhand beat minnows Tripura by 37 runs to move to 16 points and retain its lead on the top.
Put in to bat, opener Karn Veer Kaushal’s 58 and Vaibhav Singh’s 46 helped Uttrakahnd post a total of 147.
Kaushal’s innings was studded with six boundaries and two sixes while Singh hit a four and two maximums.
Chasing the target, Tripura were bundled out for 110. The batsmen struggled from the beginning with only two reaching double-digit scores.
In another match, Maharashtra crushed Hyderabad by seven wickets.
Batting first, Rohit Rayudu (47 not out) was the top-scorer for Hyderabad as they posted 124 for 6.
A 54-run partnership between Rituraj Gaikwad and an unbeaten 42 from NS Shaik helped Maharashtra overwhelm the target with 12 balls to spare.
In another Group E match, Services mauled Baroda by seven wickets.
Asked to take the bat first, Baroda were all out for 75. Diwesh Pathania and Vikas Kumar shined with the bowl for Services.
Services lost three wickets in their chase, with openers Nakul Verma and Ravi Chauhan falling to Swapnil Singh. Gahlaut Singh followed soon after.
However, captain Rajat Paliwal (8) and Vikas Hathwala (18) guided their side to victory.
Brief Scores:
Uttar Pradesh 179 for 4 in 20 overs (Priyam Garg 54, Akshdeep Nath 29; Vikneshwaran Marimuthu 2-15) beat Puducherry 102 for 6 in 20 overs ( Fabid Ahmed 25 not out, Thamaraikannan Parandaman 25 not out; Saurabh Kumar 4-14) by eight wickets.
Services 76 for 3 in 16.2 overs (Ravi Chauhan 22, Nakul Verma 19; Swapnil Singh 2-16) beat Baroda 75 all out in 18.2 overs (Swapnil Singh 17, Vishnu Solanki 14; Mohit Kumar 2-10) by seven wickets.
Uttarakhand 147 for 5 in 20 overs (Karn Veer Kaushal 58, Vaibhav Singh 46; Sanjay Majumder 2-18) beat Tripura 110 all out in 19 overs (Nirupam Chowdhary 34, Manisankar Murasingh 33; Rohit Dangwal 3-16) by 37 runs.
Maharashtra 125 for 3 in 18 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 54, Naushad Shaikh 42 nout out; Saaketh Sairam 2-38) beat Hyderabad 124 for 6 in 20 overs (Rohit Rayudu 47 not out, Bavanaka Sandeep 25; Vishal Gite 2-30) by seven wickets.
