In the business end of the league phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, Vidarbha strengthened their position in the Group A table with a victory over Hyderabad while Himachal have kept themselves in contention for a spot in the Super League with a win over Tamil Nadu. Delhi consolidated their position at the top of the Group C table with a narrow win in a low-scoring match against Goa. In Group B, as teams are battling to enter the next phase, Jharkhand’s comprehensive win over Saurashtra have taken their points tally to 16.
Here’s how the team’s performed on the penultimate day of the league phase:
Group A
Himachal Pradesh vs Tamil Nadu: TN 178/6 in 20 overs (KB Shankar 41, R Sathish 41*, R K Singh 1/17) lost to HP 173/4 in 16.5 overs (P Dogra 79*, P Chopra 20, PJaswal 22*, J Kousik 1/24) by 6 wickets
Chasing 169, Paras Dogra powered HP to a six-wicket win against Tamil Nadu to take the team's points tally to 12 points, keeping them in the fray for a spot in the next phase of the tournament. The top-order batsman slammed 79* off 33 balls after coming in to bat at 48 for one. He took the team to the target with 19 balls to spare with P Jaswal (22* off 6).
Earlier, K Bharat Shankar's 41 at the top of the order and R Sathish's unbeaten 41 lower down the order helped the team to 178 for six.
Vidarbha vs Hyderabad: Hyderabad 139/7 in 20 overs (GH Vihari 40, R Thakur 3/29, A Karnewar 2/20) lost to Vidarbha 142/5 in 20 overs (A Wankhede 43*, U Patel 33, CV Milind 2/26) by 5 wickets
Apoorva Wankhade helped Vidarbha chase down 140 against Hyderabad with an unbeaten 31-ball 43. The middle-order batman’s knock helped the team strengthen their position in the points table as teams clamour for a spot in the next phase of the tournament. Coming in at 64/4, he found an able ally in Urvesh Patel to keep the team in the chase. The pair had taken the side to 132 when Patel departed with seven balls left in the innings. With Ravi Jangid, the middle-order batsman took the team to a crucial win.
Earlier, Ravi Thakur claimed three for 29 while Akshay Karnewar picked two wickets as Vidarbha kept Hyderabad to 139 for seven. Hyderabad captain Hanuma Vihari scored 40 as they looked to set the opposition a respectable target.
Group B
Saurashtra vs Jharkhand: Saurashtra 128/5 in 20 overs (C Pujara 54*, SS Singh 2/23) lost to Jharkhand 132/3 in 19.3 overs (Virat Singh 41, Shahseen 27, S Kumar 26*, S Sanandia 2/22) by 7 wickets
The Virat Singh-led Jharkhand chased down the 129-run target with three balls to spare to keep themselves in reckoning for a spot in the Super League phase. Earlier, Sonu Kumar Singh had claimed two for 23 while Prakash Seet, Shahsheem and Shahbaz Nadeem had picked a wicket each as they restricted the opposition to 128 for five. Cheteshwar Pujara had remained unbeaten on 54 as Saurashtra looked to set Jharkhand a competitive target in the match.
Virat and Shahseem set off the chase with a 54-run opening stand until the later was sent back by Prerak Mankad. The opener then took the team to 96 before returning to the pavilion on 41. Saurabh Tiwary (20* off 11) and Ishank Jaggi (11* off 8) then took the team across the line in a must-win game.
Group C
Railways vs Assam: Railways 142/8 in 20 overs (M Rawat 72, A Verma 3/20, M Dutta 3/23, PK Das 2/16) lost to Assam 147/5 in 18.2 (PK Das 77, J Syed Mohammed 36*, A Yadav 2/20) by 5 wickets
With a swashbuckling 77 off 43 balls, Pallav Kumar Das propelled Assam to a five-wicket win against Railways after claiming two for 16 to keep the opposition in check earlier in the match. His quickfire knock consisting of eight boundaries and three sixes helped set up the 143-run chase for the team. J Syed Mohammed (36* off 39) then took the team to the finish line with Wasiqur Rahman (12* off 5).
Earlier, it was middle-order batsman Mahesh Rawat who put to a lone fight with an unbeaten 72 off 47 balls as wickets fell from the other end. Mrinmoy Dutta (three for 23) and PK Das (two for 16) had accounted for the top-order while Amit Verma (three for 20) wrecked the lower-half of the lineup to restrict Railways.
Delhi vs Goa: Delhi 91/10 in 19.2 overs (Milind 19, S Jakati 5/17, LA Garg 2/5) beat Goa 89/9 in 20 overs (SS Bandekar 31*, S Asnodkar 21, P Awana 3/21, A Sudan 2/10) 2 runs
Delhi pulled off a thrilling two-run win against Goa in a low-scoring game to consolidate their position at the top of the table. Defending 91 runs, the Parvinder Awana-led attack held Goa to 89 for nine. After giving the team the first breakthrough with four runs on the board, he followed up with two more to finish with three for 21. Debutant Akash Sudan too claimed two for ten while Pradeep Sangwan, Pawan Negi and Subodh Bhati chipped in with a wicket each to bowl Delhi to victory.
Earlier, after electing to field, Shadab Jakati had claimed his maiden T20 five-for to bowl Delhi out for 91. The left-arm spinner claimed five for 17 while Lakshya Garg removed Gautam Gambhir and Sangwan as they bowled the opposition out with four balls remaining in the innings.
Follow the stars:
Dinesh Karthik scored 9 off 13 balls in Tamil Nadu’s game against Himachal Pradesh
Gautam Gambhir scored four runs off 12 balls against Goa.
Unmukt Chand scored 15 off 11 balls for Delhi
