Asad Pathan’s whirlwind 64-ball 87 in Gujarat’s thumping victory over Maharashtra was one of the highlights of the opening day of the Inter State Twenty20 league 2012-13. Here is the round-up for the first half of the day:
North Zone
Himachal vs SSCB: In this North Zone game, Himachal claimed a thrilling one-run win over Services at Lahili. Asked to bat, HPCA were reeling on nine for the loss of three wickets until RR Dhawan and AK Bains came together to stem the fall of wickets. But once the partnership was broken by IA Khan, the rest of the line-up faced another mini collapse. S Nazar and Abhishek Sakuja picked three wickets apiece, while Babulal Sharma and Khan took two wickets each to bowl Himachal out for 78. The Himachal bowlers then wrapped up the SSCB innings for 77 with a ball to spare. The Services lower order showed some resistance after the HPCA bowlers ran through the top and middle orders, but they fell two runs short of the target. VS Malik (two wickets) and RR Dhawan (three wickets) got the ball rolling, while WR Ahmed, Dhruv Singh and Rahul Singh pitched in with a wicket each to take HPCA to victory.
Punjab vs Haryana: Haryana opened their account in the Inter State T20 league with a 47-run win over Punjab in Lahili. Asked to bat first, Haryana were powered to 150 for four by SS Hooda (56) and RR Dalal (40) in the allotted 20 overs. Their bowlers then wrapped up the Punjab innings for 103 with 13 balls to spare. Harshal Patel got the ball rolling with the wicket of Chandan Madan in the first over and followed up with the wicket of Gurkeerat Singh Mann in the next to leave Punjab reeling on five for the loss of two. Punjab didn’t recover from the early blows as Haryana struck at regular intervals to coast to victory.
South Zone
Kerala vs Hyderabad: Kerala secured a six-wicket win over Hyderabad to open their account in the league. Opting to field first, Kerala restricted the opposition to 133 for six and then attained the target with two deliveries to spare at Shimoga. Opener Nikhilesh Surendran scored a half-century, while Sanju Viswanadh (30) and Sachin Baby (37) made crucial contributions to take their team across the line.
Andhra vs Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu registered a thumping eight-wicket win over Andhra Pradesh in Badravati in their opening game of the T20 league. After the L Balaji-led attack skittled Andhra out for 106, Abhinav Mukund (33*) and KB Arun Kartik (38*) ensured a smooth win for TN. Balaji claimed four, while Rahil Shah took three wickets for TN.
Goa vs Karnataka: Chasing 117 runs, Karnataka cruised to a nine-wicket win over Goa in Shimoga. Despite KA Vaz’s 41 lower down the order, Goa were bundled out for 116 as the rest of the line-up failed to pitch in with the bat. R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun claimed two wickets each to help restrict the opposition. Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey slammed fifties to help Karnataka sail to victory.
East Zone
Assam vs Bengal: Bengal posted a thumping 53-run victory over Assam in Agartala. After electing to bat first, opener Bengal Subhomoy Das was run out without a run on the board. But SP Goswami (43), DB Das (23) and AA Nandi (23*) helped the team post a decent target for Assam. Their bowlers then bundled Assam out for 77. SJ Mandal took three, while Shami Ahmed claimed two and SC Sanyal and IA Saxena picked a wicket each for Bengal.
Tripura vs Odisha: Odisha restricted Tripura to 150 for six after setting them a 173-run target to clinch a comprehensive win in Agartala.
Earlier after being put in to bat first, half-centuries by BS Patil and GB Podder ensured that Odisha posted a formidable total on the board. Tripura’s MB Mora Singh picked a four-wicket haul. AS Ratra top-scored with 54 for Tripura, but the Odisha bowlers kept the opposition batsmen on a tight leash and stemmed the flow of runs and helped win the game.
West Zone
Gujarat vs Maharashtra: Gujarat claimed an eight-wicket win over Maharashtra in Ahmedabad on the first day of the domestic T20 league. With an unbeaten 87-run knock, Gujarat opener Asad Pathan helped the team race to the 148-run target with over five overs to spare. Earlier, NS Naik struck a half-century after Maharashtra were put in to bat.
Mumbai vs Baroda: After opener Aditya Waghmode struck an unbeaten century to help Baroda post a 195-run target for Mumbai, the Irfan Pathan-led attack ran through the opposition to cinch a thumping victory. Although Aditya Tare rallied with a quick-fire 35-ball 62, his effort was in vain as Irfan Pathan (three for 11) along with the rest of the attack restricted Mumbai to 139 for nine to claim a 55-run win.
Central Zone
Railways vs UPCA: Uttar Pradesh posted a six-wicket win over Railways at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. Chasing 131 runs, they reached the target with five balls to spare. After Tanmay Srivastava brought them close to the total with 45-run knock, Akshdeep Nath took them across the line with an unbeaten 31.
Earlier, Praveen Kumar rattled Railways’ top order to leave them tottering on 11 for three. However, lower middle-order batsmen Karan Sharma (62*) and Ashish Yadav (44) salvaged the innings to take Haryana to 130 for five after opting to bat first.
