Three captains Harbhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel and Hanuma Vihari led from the front as Punjab, Gujarat and Hyderabad registered convincing wins in their respective Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 games. While Gujarat strengthened their position at the top of Group A, Goa slipped to the sixth position in Group C after their third straight loss.
A brief recap
Group A
Hyderabad v Haryana: Hyd 173/8 (Hanuma Vihari 44, Akshath Reddy 43, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/43) beat Haryana 138/7 (H Rana 31, Hanuma Vihari 2/13) by 35 runs
Captain Hanuma Vihari first top scored for Hyderabad with 44 from just 28 balls and then picked 2/13 from three overs as Hyderabad beat Haryana by 35 runs. Set a target of 174 after useful contributions from the top-order, Haryana could only manage 138. Captain Virender Sehwag, who chose to bat No. 5, hit one six but was dismissed for nine on the fifth ball he faced. It was Vihari, who dismissed his opposite number as Haryana were reduced to 70/4 in the 11th over.
Bengal v Gujarat: 101/10 in 19.2 overs (Debrata Das 22, Rohit Dahiya 3/14, Jasprit Bumrah 3/16) lost to Guj 104/1 in 11.5 overs (Parthiv Patel 52) by 8 wickets
The absence of Manoj Tiwary hurt Bengal again as they were rolled over by Gujarat in a one-sided match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur. Opting to bat first, Bengal kept losing wickets until a 40-run stand for the eight wicket helped them get to the 100-run mark. The openers added 28 on board before Wriddhiman Saha was out in the fifth over. In-form Jasprit Bumrah was once again on target as he picked three wickets for just 16 runs in four overs.
Gujarat chased down the meagre total in just 11.5 overs with Parthiv Patel notching up his third straight half-century. He hit nine boundaries and one six in his knock of 52 off 32 balls. His opening partner Priyank Panchal made 24, while one-drop Manpreet Juneja hit 23 from 12 balls to seal the victory.
Group B
Jharkhand Punjab: Jha 104/9 v Pun (Virat Singh 41, Harbhajan Singh 2/16) lost to Punjab 105/3 in 17.3 overs (Pargat Singh 60 not out)
Jharkhand opener Virat Singh made 41 off 38 balls but the rest struggled to even get to 20 as the team crawled their way to 104/9 from 20 overs. The biggest partnership in the Jharkhand innings was worth just 24 runs for the fourth wicket between Virat Singh and Kumar Deobrat. While five Punjab bowlers picked up wickets, captain Harbhajan Singh bowled another tight spell. He picked two wickets for 16 runs and more importantly bowled 15 dot balls. Pargat Singh then led Punjab’s reply with an unbeaten 60 as Punjab wrapped up a commanding win. Harbhajan promoted himself to No.4 and smashed a six and a four.
Group C
Baroda vs Goa: Bar 154/2 (Irfan Pathan 49, Kedar Devdhar 39, Darshan Misal 2/25) beat Goa 82/10 in 15.5 overs (Deepraj Gaonkar 48, A Arothe 2/7) by 72 runs
In another one-sided match on Wednesday, Baroda registered a comprehensive 72-run win over Goa. Asked to bat first, Irfan Pathan’s 49 and Hardik Pandya’s 38 guided the team to a competitive 154/2. The two shared an unbeaten 85 runs stand for the third wicket. Later,
the two teamed up again and picked two wickets each to shoot Goa out for just 82 runs. Had it not been for Deepraj Gaonkar’s 82, Goa’s would have been bowled out for a much lower total.
Follow the stars
Hardik Pandya scored 38 not out and picked 2/14 in Baroda’s win over Goa
Bowling judiciously, RP Singh picked one wicket and gave away just 20 runs in his four overs
Baroda captain Irfan Pathan remained unbeaten on 49 claimed 2/19
