With an unbeaten 59-ball 126-run knock, Suresh Raina set the stage for Uttar Pradesh’s resounding win over Bengal in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Super League. While Team Rajasthan beat Jharkhand to open their account in the phase Punjab triumphed over Mumbai in Kolkata. Dhruv Shorey helped Delhi post their second successive win with a triumph over Baroda.
Group A
Jharkhand vs Team Rajasthan – Jharkhand suffered their second successive loss of the Super League phase when they lost to Team Rajasthan by four wickets in Kolkata. After restricting the Varun Aaron-led team to 157 runs, Team Rajasthan attained the target with five balls to spare.
D Chahar accounted for Kumar Deobrat with 20 runs on the board to give his side their first breakthrough after Team Rajasthan opted to field in their first game of the phase. Shahbaz Nadeem, who came in to bat at No 3 was the next to depart after a useful 27 off 22 deliveries; bowled by A Lamba. With the team on 79 for two, Virat Singh joined Ishan Kishan in carrying the innings forward. However, 11 runs later, the opener was sent back by Aditya Garhwal leaving the side on 90 for three. And 26 runs later, the bowler also accounted for Saurabh Tiwary. With Kaushal Singh, Virat Singh then looked to boost the total, but with six balls left in the innings the middle-order bat was removed for 43 by Chahar.
Kaushal Singh and Atul Surwar then added 11 runs in the last over to help their team to a 157 for five.
Garhwal and Ankit Lamba then put together 47 runs for the opening stand until the latter was dismissed by Jaskaran. 14 runs later, M Lomror was run out for six leaving the team on 61 for two. With SF Khan, the opener then added 30 runs for the third wicket until being sent back by Shahbaz Nadeem.
RK Bishnoi Sr then supported SF Khan in taking the team to 107 until Varun Aaron struck. The pacer claimed Bishnoi and later in the over accounted for SF Khan leaving Team Rajasthan on 113 for five. In the next over Jaskaran followed up with the wicket of TN Dhillion leaving the team on 123 for six in the 16th over.
With 35 runs required to win, CD Bist joined Chahar in the middle and the pair took the team to the finish line.
Scorecard Punjab vs Mumbai – After snatching a thrilling win over Karnataka, Punjab beat Mumbai by three wickets to register their second successive win.
Electing to field, the Harbhajan Singh-led side restricted Mumbai to 198 for four. Jay Bista (24 off 14) was the first to depart; trapped lbw by Mayank Markande leaving the team on 45. Shreyas Iyer, who then came to the crease batted the team to a competitive total with an unbeaten 79 off 44 balls. He was involved in a 73-run stand with Akhil Herwadkar, until the bowler accounted for the opener. And 19 runs later Surya Kumar Yadav was sent back, Manpreet Singh Grewal. Iyer then added 46 runs with Shivam Dube for the fourth wicket until the middle-order bat was run out. With his skipper, Aditya Tare Iyer then added 15 runs to the total.
Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra then got Punjab off to a good start with a 42-run stand until the former was removed by Dhawal Kulkarni. Vohra then kept the innings on course. Although Harbhajan Singh coming in at No 3 was sent back for 11, the opener was involved in a 35-run stand with Yuvraj Singh until being sent back by Dube leaving the team on 107 for three.
Yuvraj Singh and Gurkeerat Mann then helped the side to 157 until the latter was removed by Bista for 43. 15 runs later Yuvraj was trapped lbw by Dube. Sharad Lumba then took the team to the finish line with an unbeaten 21 off 10 balls with the lower-order with four balls to spare.
Scorecard
Group B Bengal vs Uttar Pradesh – Suresh Raina’s sparkling 126* helped set the tone of the match for UP and seize a 75-run victory. Riding on the skipper’s knock, they set Bengal a formidable 236-run target at the Eden Gardens.
Electing to bat, UP lost Samarth Singh in the first over before opening their account. Raina, who then took guard shaped the innings with a vintage knock. Shivam Chaudhary scored just eight runs in the 55-run stand for the second wicket until being sent back by W Chatterjee as the left-hander stole the show. He then found an able ally in Akshdeep Nath to take the game away from the opponents. The duo had taken the team to 218 when Nath was dismissed with four balls left in the innings. With S Khan, Raina then took his team to 235 for three in 20 overs.
Building on the advantage give by the batsmen, the UP attack then kept the Bengal batsmen in check to claim a win. While Shreevats Goswami made a 28-ball 57 at the top of the order, the rest of the line-up succumbed to the UP attack and the side were bundled out for 160. Kuldeep Yadav claimed 4/26 while Mohsin Multan Khan claimed 3/35. Praveen Kumar, Ankit Rajpoot and Chaudhary chipped in with a wicket each to bowl the side to a thumping win.
Delhi vs Baroda With a two-wicket win over Baroda, Delhi took their points tally to eight in the Super League.
Electing to field, Delhi restricted Baroda to 140 for eight. While Baroda opener, Kedar Devdhar top-scored for his team with 77 off 53 deliveries, Subodh Bhati and Co dismantled the rest of the lineup at the Eden Gardens. The Pradeep Sangwan-led Delhi attack comprising of as many as seven bowlers kept the Baroda batters in check.
While Bhati claimed 4/20 including the wicket of Devdhar, Nitish Rana, Lalit Yadav and Sangwan picked a wicket each.
Chasing the modest target, Delhi lost Rishabh Pant for naught in the first over. The stylish opener was run out without a run on the board. 30 runs later, Gautam Gambhir was sent back for seven by Lukman Meriwala. Later in the over the bowler also picked the key wicket of Rana to leave Delhi on 30 for three.
Shorey held up one end even as wickets continued to fall at the other at regular intervals. While Milind was Meriwala’s third scalp, Lalit was sent back by Dhruv Patel a bit later leaving the side on 66 for five. 37 runs later Varun Sood was removed by Soaeb Tai. With still 15 runs required of 12 balls, the opener too was back in the pavilion leaving Delhi on 126 for seven.
Sangwan (23* off 12) then anchored his side to the finish line with the lower order.
