Delhi continued their winning streak and strengthened their position at the top of the Group C table by beating Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh’s win against Team Rajasthan was their third in as many matches in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, which keeps them at the top of the Group D table.
Sanju Samson led Kerala to victory with a half-century against Tripura while Ashoke Dinda led Bengal to a thrilling win against Himachal Pradesh in the absence of Manoj Tiwary. Biplab Samantaray’s maiden T20 century went in vain as Odisha lost to Maharashtra in a nail-biting finish.
Here are the highlights of the day:
Group A
Bengal vs Himachal Pradesh: Bengal 154/6 in 20 overs (P Chandila 70, S Chatterjee 42, P Jaswal 4/26) beat HP 152/3 in 20 overs (P Chopra 74*, P Dogra 52, AP Singh 2/28) by 2 runs.
Defending 154 against HP, the Ashoke Dinda-led Bengal pulled off a two-run win in Nagpur. After Pramod Chandila (70 off 39) and Sudip Chatterjee (42 off 39) lifted the team to 154 for six, the Bengal attack held their nerve to restrict the opposition to 152 for three.
Chasing a respectable target, P Chopra kept the team in the chase with an unbeaten 61-ball 74. He was involved in a 110-run stand for the second wicket with Paras Dogra (52 off 38) as they looked to scale the target. While Bengal didn't get wickets, they managed to keep themselves in the game. Although he did not get wickets, Dinda's miserly performance with the ball (4 overs -16 dot balls - 8 runs) proved vital in the team's narrow win.
Group B
Kerala vs Tripura: Tripura 111/10 in 19.5 overs (UU Bose 35, B Thampi 4/15, S Warrier 2/26) lost to Kerala 113/2 (S Samson 56*, R Prem 40) by 8 wickets
Basil Thampi's maiden four-for in T20 helped bowl Tripura out for a paltry 111 and set the match up in Kerala's favour. The pacer set the ball rolling with the wicket of SM Singha with 13 runs on the board and finished with four for 15 as he dealt telling blows throughout the innings.
Sandeep Warrier chipped in with two wickets while RV Gomez, P Padmanabhan and VA Jagadeesh claimed a wicket each.
Sanju Samson then led the chase with an unbeaten 56 while Rohan Prem scored 40. The pair added 96 runs for the second wicket before Rohan returned to the dressing room. Sanju then took the team to the target with ease.
Jharkhand vs Team Rajasthan: Team Rajasthan 120/9 in 20 overs (CK Singh 40, D Yagnik 30, Vikash 4/12) lost to Jharkhand 121/2 in 19.5 overs (S Tiwary 61*, S Kumar 38*) by 8 wickets
Jharkhand's left-arm pacer Vikash (four for 12) restricted Team Rajasthan to 120 for nine with his maiden four-for. He claimed four of the top six batsmen to push Rajasthan on the backfoot.
Chasing 121, Saurabh Tiwary powered Jharkhand to an eight-wicket win against Team Rajasthan. Coming in to bat at 18 for two, the big-hitting batsman formed an unbroken stand with Sumit Kumar to take his team to their second successive win in the tournament.
Group C
Madhya Pradesh vs Delhi: MP 156/6 in 20 overs (N Ojha 48, P Shahani 36*, P Sangwan 3/22) lost to Delhi 160/6 in 19.5 overs (G Gambhir 38, Milind 36*, I Pandey 2/23) by 4 wickets
Delhi overhauled the 157-run target with a ball to spare against HP. Captain Gautam Gambhir made a valuable 38 off as many balls to hold the innings together before departing in the 14th over with the team on the three-figure mark. CV Milind then ensured that the team posted a win with an unbeaten 26-ball 36. Pawan Negi, who has been making contributions with the bat as well, chipped in with 17 off 11 as the team worked to attain the target.
Earlier, Pradeep Sangwan had left MP reeling at five for two after electing to field. However, coming in to bat with the team reeling from the early blows, Naman Ojha (48) revived the innings and complemented by middle-order batsmen - P Sahani (36*), HS Bhatia (35) - lifted the team to a decent total.
Group D
Maharashtra vs Odisha: Odisha 183/4 in 20 overs (B Samantaray 102, G Podder 63, A Sanklecha 2/23) lost to Maharashtra 184/6 in 20 overs (A Bawane 52*, PJ Bhati 44, D Behera 2/32) by 4 wickets
Biplab Samantaray slammed a 102 off 59 balls with six hits over the ropes and eight to the fence before being run out off the last delivery of the innings to set Maharashtra a formidable target. He was ably supported by captain Govind Poddar (63) in the 155-run partnership for the third wicket to set Maharashtra a stiff target.
Deepak Behera then accounted for Harshad Khadiwale with 16 runs on the board, but the rest of the batsmen kept Maharashtra in the fray with quick useful knocks. However, it was the fifth-wicket partnership between PJ Bhati and Ankit Bawane that seized the game from Odisha. Bhati scored 44 off 33 before being run out with three runs required off two balls. Bawane (52* off 26) then took the team across the line in a last-ball finish.
Follow the stars:
Kedar Jadhav made 20 off 10 balls against Odisha.
Pragyan Ojha conceded 14 runs in two overs in the match against HP
MP’s Ishwar Pandey claimed two for 23 against Delhi.
Rajat Bhatia was sent back for a duck by Vikash in the match against Jharkhand.
