Domestic giants Mumbai and Karnataka were involved in a nail-biting thriller with the latter eventually emerging victorious by one run in an exciting Group D encounter of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir lost to Punjab, taking their overall losing streak to 30, the most by any team in the T20 format.
Here’s a brief recap
Group A
Tamil Nadu v Bengal: TN 151/8 (Abhinav Mukund 41, Mohd. Shami 2/10) beat Beng 82 (Shreevats Goswami 31, Rahil Shah 5/12) by 69 runs
Tamil Nadu registered their second win in as many days with a comprehensive thrashing of Bengal by 69 runs. After posting 151 on the board, thanks to Abhinav Mukund’s 41 and contribution from the middle-order, the bowlers ran through the Bengal lineup to dismiss them for just 82. Only Sreevats Goswami (31) and Sudip Chatterjee (18) got double digit scores. For Tamil Nadu, left arm spinner Rahil Shah picked up his maiden five-wicket haul just 17 balls. Earlier, Mohammad Shami bowled four overs for 30 runs and got two wickets.
Gujarat v Vidarbha: Guj 174/7 (Parthiv 59, Ravi Jangid 2/33) beat Vid 114 (S. Shrivastava, Jasprit Bumrah 3/16, RP Singh 3/26, H Patel 3/36) by 60 Runs
A fifty from Parthiv Patel at the top of the order combined with Chirag Ganhi’s 30 in just 19 balls helped them post a challenging 174 runs against Vidarbha, who incidentally chose to field first. Fresh from their one-day heroics, RP Singh and Jasprit Bumrah then picked three wickets each, while Hardik too joined the duo with his share of three scalps, as Gujarat rolled Vidarbha over for just 114 runs.
Group B
Jammu & Kashmir v Punjab: J&K 105/10 (Bandeep Singh 40, Ian Chauhan 39*) lost to Pun 108/2 (Mnadeep Singh 58, Pargat Singh 44) by 8 wickets
It is a record that J&K would not like to remember. Having become the punching bags for most teams, J&K on Sunday were beaten by Punjab, which was their 30th loss in the T20 format. J&K now have the record for most consecutive losses in T20s without a win. Set a target of 105 courtesy a 52-run partnership between Bandeep Singh 40 and Ian Chauhan (39 not out), Punjab got to the total in just 14.3 overs. Mandeep Singh struck his second fifty in two days and remained not out on 58 while opener Pargat Singh made 44 in 34 balls. Earlier, captain Harbhajan Singh picked three wickets in his lethal spell of four overs, giving away just eight runs.
Group C
Goa v Madhya Pradesh: Goa 104/6 (Deepraj Gaonkar 44, Harpreet Singh (2/15) lost to Madhya Pradesh 106/3 (Zafar Ali 27, Jalaj Saxena 24) by 7 wickets
Steady partnerships from the top-order ensured Madhya Pradesh chased Goa’s small total of 104/6 without much trouble to pick up their second win in as many games. The credit for the win must go to the MP bowlers who did not allow Goa to score freely. While Goa lost just six wickets, they were still not able to score at even six runs per over thanks to medium pacers Harpreet Singh (4-0-15-2) and Venkatesh Iyer (4-0-14-1).
Group D
Karnataka vs Mumbai: Kar 162 (Stuart Binny 38, Dhaval Kulkarni 3/35) beat Mum 161 (Abhishek Nayar 49, Stuart Binny 2/20) by 1 run
In the most exciting match of the day, Karnataka registered a slender 1-run victory over Mumbai to get their first win on the board. This was the seventh time that a team won the match by one run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. Opting to bowl first, Mumbai were set a target of 163 by Karnataka. While Mumbai were in the hunt, Karnataka were also not out of the equation with the regular fall of wickets which ultimately left Mumbai with 12 runs to get in the final over.
Veteran Abhishek Nayar hit a six off the first ball and picked three on the next two balls but was out on the penultimate ball. Needing two to get off just one ball, Pravin Tambe was run-out as Karnataka recorded a memorable victory. It was once again their captain Vinay Kumar, who led from the front, opting to bowl the last over himself. All-rounder Stuart Binny also contributed to the win with his 19-ball 38 and two wickets.
Odisha v Uttar Pradesh: UP 150/5 (Prashant Gupta 53, Eklavya Dwivedi 47, Biplab Samantaray 2/17) beat Odisha 118/8 (P Rosan Kumar Rao 31 not out, Piyush Chawla 2/18, Kuldeep Yadav 2/24) by 32 runs
An all-round effort saw Uttar Pradesh pick up a comfortable 32 runs victory in the Group D match at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. Opener Prashant Gupata’s 53 and Eklavya Dwivedi’s 47 took UP to 150 and their strong bowling attack did the rest of the job as Odisha were restricted to just 118/8. Five of the six UP bowlers had wickets to their credit with Amit Mishra, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla taking two apiece. This was UP’s second straight win.
