Irfan Pathan’s maiden five-wicket haul in T20 helped Baroda open their account in the 2015-16 season of the Syed Muhstaq Ali tournament with a resounding win. Saurabh Wakaskar smashed 118 in just 55 balls, but that was still not enough as Delhi chased down Railway’s total of 210 with four balls to spare.
While Cheteshwar Pujara set the tone for Saurashtra’s victory and Tamil Nadu cantered to a comprehensive win, Karnataka lost to Services in the Group D encounter.
Highlights of the day:
Group A
Tamil Nadu vs Haryana: Haryana 113/10 in 19.1 overs (NR Saini 50, W Antony Dhas 4/10, M Ashwin 3/28) lost to TN 116/1 in 16 overs (Aniruda 54*, B Aparajith 49*) by 9 wickets
W Antony Dhas's maiden four-for in T20 helped Tamil Nadu bowl Haryana out for just 113 after their captain Virender Sehwag had opted to bat first. Sehwag was the first to depart for three off R Sathish. The pacer and leg-spinner M Ashwin then ran through the rest of the line-up picking up four and three wickets respectively. While opener N Saini made 50 before being bowled by M Ashwin, the rest got out with five balls to spare.
Chasing a low total, opener Abhinav Mukund was run out for nine by Sehwag but Aniruda (54*) and Baba Aparajith (49*) took the team to a comprehensive nine wicket win.
Group B
Tripura vs Saurashtra: Saurashtra 144/6 in 20 overs (C Pujara 67, S Mujumder 2/22) beat Tripura 78/10 in 17.3 overs (D Punia 3/19, K Makwana 2/8, S Sanandia 2/14, J Unadkat 2/21) by 66 runs.
Pacers bowled Saurashtra to a thumping 66-run win after Cheteshwar Pujara (67 off 57) helped set Tripura a 145-run target.
Opening the batting for Saurashtra, Pujara set the tone with a brisk knock comprising seven boundaries and a six. Jaydev Unadkat then gave Saurashtra their first breakthrough with 16 runs on the board. While Deepak Punia removed the middle-order to finish with three for 19, Shaurya Sanandia and Unadkat picked two wickets each and off-spinner Kamlesh Makwana chipped in with two for eight to skittle Tripura out for 78 with 15 balls to spare.
Kerala vs J & K: J & K 126/6 in 20 overs (B Singh 37, P Rasool 34*, RV Gomez 2/19) lost to Kerala 129/5 in 18.4 overs (R Prem 59*, RV Gomez 22*, M Mudhasir 2/27) by 5 wickets
Unbeaten 59 by Rohan Prem and 22 not out by Raiphi Vincent Gomez helped Kerala kick-off the tournament with a comfortable five-wicket win against J & K. The top-order bat kept the team on course after coming in to bat at the departure of VA Jagdeesh off the first ball of the innings.
Raiphi, who had earlier claimed two for 19 then helped take the team to the target with an unbroken stand.
Group C
Assam vs Baroda:Baroda 164/8 in 20 overs (K Devdhar 48, D Hooda 47*, S Mohammed 2/28) beat Assam 116/9 in 20 overs (S Mohammed 42*, I Pathan 5/13, S Singh 2/15) by 49 runs
Irfan Pathan bowled Baroda to victory with his maiden five-for in the shortest format of the game. Defending 164 runs, the left-arm pacer uprooted top half of the Assam line-up to put Baroda comfortably in the driver's seat. Syed Mohammed remained unbeaten on 42 with Krishna Das on five as Baroda restricted Assam to 116 for nine.
Earlier, Kedar Devdhar's 48 at the top of the order and Deepak Hooda's unbeaten 33-ball 47 helped Baroda to a respectable total after being asked to bat.
Delhi vs Railways: Railways 210/2 in 20 overs (S Wakaskar 118, Asadullah Khan 81*) lost to Delhi (A Kaushik 53, P Negi 35*, U Chand 38, K Upadhyay 2/36) by 4 wickets.
Saurabh Wakaskar's maiden T20 century went in vain as Delhi scaled down the 211-run target with four balls to spare. The Railways opener had set the field ablaze with the only century on the first day. His whirlwind 55-ball 118 included 11 sixes, the joint highest by an Indian batsman in T20s. He also hit seven boundaries. His 185-run stand with opener Asadullah Khan (81*) took the team to a solid 210 in 20 overs.
However, a good effort by the Delhi batsmen ensured that the Gautam Gambhir-led team won the match. While the captain departed for 10, Aditya Kaushik kept the team in the fray with 53. Pawan Negi then took the team across the line with a quick 18-ball 35 not out.
Group D
Karnataka vs Services: Karnataka 121/9 in 20 overs (V Kumar 38, R Uthappa 22, R Raj 3/19, D Rai 2/21) lost to Services 122/7 in 19 overs (A Gupta 27, Y Singh 25, KC Cariappa 2/20) by 3 wickets.
Services triumphed over Karnataka by three wickets in the opening game of the tournament. The Raushan Raj (3/19) led attack restricted Karnataka to 121 for nine after electing to field. The bowler claimed the top-order while D Rain (2/21) and N Yadav (1/38) kept the batsmen in check. While captain Vinay Kumar was the top-scorer with 38, Robin Uthappa made 22 for the team.
Chasing a modest target, useful contributions by the batters helped them get to the total with an over to spare. Anshul Gupta made 27 at the top of the order while Yashpal Singh scored 25.
Follow the stars:
Virender Sehwag scored three runs off five balls in Haryana’s tournament opener against TN.
Parvez Rasool scored 34 runs against Kerala and gave away just 12 runs in four overs.
J & K captain Mithun Manhas made 15 runs against Kerala before being run out.
Gautam Gambhir scored 10 runs in the chase against Railways.
Unmukt Chand contributed 38 runs to Delhi's win against Railways.
Yusuf Pathan scored 9 off 11 balls and conceded 20 runs in two overs.
Munaf Patel was wicketless in the match against Assam but conceded just 13 runs in his four overs.
Robin Uthappa made 22 against Services.
Vinay Kumar scored 38 runs and claimed one wicket against Services.
