Akshay was asked to bowl and he did not concede even a single run in his entire four overs and also bagged two wickets. (File) In the match between Manipur and Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, ambidextrous spinner Akshay Karnewar bowled four overs of his quota without conceding a run and also scalped two wickets. He bowled a spell of 4-4-0-2 against Manipur and became the first bowler to concede zero runs in his full quota of overs in men’s T20 cricket. This feat has never been achieved in international T20 cricket leave alone domestic and franchise T20 cricket.
Vidarbha batted first and scored a mammoth total of 222 runs in 20 overs. Jitesh Sharma and Apoorv Wankhede scored unbeaten 71 and 49 runs respectively. In reply, Manipur was bundled out for just 55 runs in 16.3 overs. Vidarbha won the match by 167 runs.
Vidarbha lead the Plate Group with 16 points, four more than Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya with three matches left. Andhra hold the T20 record for the largest margin of victory, a 179-run win over Nagaland in the 2019 edition of the meet.
The Perfect T20 Spell from Akshay Karnewar, India’s First Ambidextrous Bowler
4 overs, All Maiden against Manipur
4-4-0-2 for Vidarbha in #MushtaqAliT20 pic.twitter.com/xjJqSMUCR7
— HashTag Cricket ♞ (@TheYorkerBall) November 8, 2021
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After the batters’ onslaught, it was time for Vidarbha bowlers to join the party with the left-arm spin duo of Akshay Karnewar and Atharva Taide grabbing two wickets apiece without conceding a single run. Karnewar bowled all his four overs maiden, while Taide also did not concede any run from his one over and also claimed two wickets.
Only two Manipur batters — Karnajit Yumnam (18) and captain Narsingh Yadav (10) — got to double digits.
Karnewar took the wickets of S Laiphangbam and Johnson Singh to break the back of Manipur’s batting lineup. His four maiden overs ensured Manipur’s run rate was less than four runs per over.
The wrist-spinner has bagged six wickets in four matches and has been consistently performing at the domestic front for Vidarbha.
Earlier in the day, Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer bowled a spell of 4-2-2-2 against Bihar. He could be added to India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand at home.
The series will also be Rahul Dravid’s first assignment as India’s full-time head coach. The BCCI will also announce India’s new T20I skipper ahead of the series as well.
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