GROUP A
Mhatre’s ton powers Mumbai to win; Kerala ease past Chhattisgarh
New Delhi, Dec 2: Ayush Mhatre continued his dazzling run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing a second consecutive century to guide Mumbai to a commanding nine-wicket victory over Andhra at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The 18-year-old, who struck his maiden T20 hundred just two days earlier, looked in complete control once again as Mumbai chased down 160 with ease. He asserted himself early, sending a length delivery soaring over square leg before peppering both sides of the wicket with crisp stroke-making. Mhatre raised his half-century in 33 balls and later sealed his 58-ball hundred — and Mumbai’s win — with successive boundaries to third man.
Andhra had struggled to build momentum after Tushar Deshpande’s incisive PowerPlay burst left them reeling.
A steady 65-run sixth-wicket stand between skipper Ricky Bhui and SDNV Prasad lifted them to a fighting total, but it proved woefully insufficient against Mhatre’s brilliance.
At the same venue, Kerala made short work of Chhattisgarh, cruising to an eight-wicket win built on a blistering start from captain Sanju Samson.
He launched the chase with a first-ball six and continued the assault with three consecutive maximums off Ajay Mandal. Partner Rohan Kunnummal joined in, dismantling the seam attack as Kerala raced to 84 in the PowerPlay, effectively sealing the contest.
Earlier, Samson’s decision to bowl first paid immediate dividends. Sharafuddeen removed Ayush Pandey in the opening over, before KM Asif’s sharp movement accounted for Shashank Chandrakar and Shashank Singh in successive balls.
Though Amandeep Khare and Sanjeet Desai offered brief resistance, Chhattisgarh eventually succumbed to the spin duo of Ankit Sharma and debutant Vignesh Puthur.
Mumbai remain unbeaten after three games, while Kerala strengthened their position with a clinical all-round display. (Agencies)
GROUP B
Suryavanshi becomes youngest batter to score hundred in SMAT
Kolkata, Dec 2: The 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi added another page to his growing list of achievements, becoming the youngest batter to score a hundred in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but his unbeaten 108 could not prevent Bihar’s three-wicket defeat to Maharashtra in their Elite Group B match here on Tuesday.
The supremely talented Suryavanshi hit a sparkling 61-ball 108 to set the new mark, going past Vijay Zol of Maharashtra who made a century against Mumbai in 2013 at 18 years 111 days.
Asked to bat, Suryavanshi combined power with patience, smashing seven fours and seven sixes to guide Bihar to 176 for three.
In reply, skipper Prithvi Shaw set the tone with a brutal 30-ball 66, while Niraj Joshi (30), Ranjeet Nikam (27) and Nikhil Naik (22) chipped in with crucial contributions to take Maharashtra home with five balls to spare. Mohd Izhar (2/22) and Sakibul Gani (2/50) claimed two wickets each, while Sakib Hussain (1/40), Suraj Kashyap (1/35) and Khalid Alam (1/34) picked up a wicket apiece to keep Bihar in the contest, but Maharashtra held their nerves.
Earlier, Suryavanshi broke Bihar’s record for most sixes in a T20 innings with his tally of seven.
He also added 75 runs with Ayush Loharuka (25 not out) for the fourth wicket — Bihar’s highest stand for that wicket in T20 cricket.
The teen batter, who had smashed a whirlwind 42-ball 144 against UAE in the Rising Stars Asia Cup, reached three figures in the 20th over, hitting the first ball from Arshin Kulkani for a boundary.For Maharashtra, Rajvardhan Hangargekar (1/35), Arshin Kulkarni (1/39) and Vicky Ostwal (1/26) were among the wicket-takers.At Jadavpur University, Goa notched up a seven-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh, riding on fifties from skipper Suyash Prabhudessai (75 not out) and Abhinav Tejrana (55), while Arjun Tendulkar claimed three wickets.
Brief Scores: Maharashtra 182 for 7 in 19.1 overs (Prithvi Shaw 66; Mohd Izhar 2/22) beat Bihar 176 for 3 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Suryavanshi 108; Vicky Ostwal 1/26) by three wickets.
Madhya Pradesh 170 for 6 in 20 overs (Harpreet Singh 80; Arjun Tendulkar 3/36) beat Goa 171 for 3 in 18.3 overs (Suyash Prabhudessai 75 not out; Tripuresh Singh 1/27) by seven wickets.
Jammu & Kashmir 192 all out in 20 overs (Yawer Hassan 57, Shubham Khajuria 43; Nikhil Sharma 2/36) beat Chandigarh: 163/7 in 20 overs (Gaurav Puri 39, Arjun Azad 38, Manan Vohra 32; Yudhvir Singh 2/32) by 29 runs.
Uttar Pradesh 127 all out in 19.2 overs (Madhav Kaushik 37; Mohammed Siraj 1/15, Rakshan Reddi 3/31, Tanay Thyagarajan 3/29) lost to Hyderabad: 129/7 in 17.1 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 43; Vipraj Nigam 3/20) by 3 wickets. (PTI)
GROUP C
Hardik Pandya’s 77 guides Baroda to 7-wicket win over Punjab
Hyderabad, Dec 2: India all-rounder Hardik Pandya made an excellent return to competitive cricket after two months, striking an unbeaten 77 to power Baroda to a seven-wicket win over Punjab in a Group C match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Tuesday.
Pandya’s 42-ball knock (7×4, 4×6) helped Baroda surmount Punjab’s challenging 222 for eight in 20 overs, which was built around India opener Abhishek Sharma’s 19-ball 50.
Pandya’s blitz carried Baroda to 224 for three in 19.1 overs.This was the 32-year-old’s first competitive outing after turning up against Sri Lanka in an Asia Cup Super Fours match in Dubai on September 26.Since then, he missed the action owing to a left quadricep injury, and has been recuperating at the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.
But on this day, he batted freely and bowled four overs while conceding 52 runs and took the wicket of Anmolpreet Singh.
Pandya’s smooth outing might have come as a shot in the arm for national selectors who will be picking up India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. In fact, Hardik gave a typical finish to the match, smashing left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar for two sixes and then meting out the same treatment to strapping pacer Gurnoor Brar as Baroda bagged four crucial points.Right now, Baroda are placed third on the table with eight points behind leaders Gujarat (12 points) and Punjab (8 points, but superior net run rate of 2.27 against Baroda’s -0.08).
Pandya also got support from Vishnu Solanki (41 off 21 balls), Shashwat Rawat (31, 18 balls) and Shivalik Sharma, who made 47 off 31 balls before getting retired hurt.Earlier, Punjab rode on Abhishek’s whirlwind fifty that contained five fours and four sixes and Anmolpreet’s equally flashing 69 off 32 balls (7×4, 4×6) to raise a total in excess of 200.
Karan Lal’s ton powers Bengal
Opener Karan Lal made a forceful 113 off 50 balls (8×4, 10×6) as Bengal chased down a stiff target of 209 in 18.4 overs.
Brief Scores: Punjab: 222/8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 50, Anmolpreet Singh 69; Raj Limbani 3/36) lost to Baroda: 224/3 in 19.1 overs (Hardik Pandya 77 not out, Shivalik Sharma 47 retired hurt, Shashwat Kumar 31, Vishnu Solanki 43) by 7 wickets.
Pondicherry: 83 all out in 13.1 overs (JK Bhatt 3/17, Ravi Bishnoi 3/13, Arzan Nagwaswalla 2/22) lost to Gujarat: 84/1 in 9 overs (Aarya Desai 53 not out) by 9 wickets.
Himachal Pradesh: 208/5 in 20 overs (Ekant Sen 89, Pukhraj Mann 79; Shahbaz Ahmed 3/36) lost to Bengal: 212/5 in 18.4 overs (Karan Lal 113, Abhishek Porel 41; Mridul Surroch 2/24) by 5 wickets. (PTI)
GROUP D
In a first, Delhi lose to Tripura, Padikkal ton in big Karnataka win
Ahmedabad, Dec 2: Delhi team’s ongoing domestic season went from bad to worse as minnows Tripura shocked a team full of cash-rich IPL stars by 12 runs in a Group D match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Tuesday.
Earlier this season in Ranji Trophy, Delhi were soundly thrashed by Jammu and Kashmir, another first in their list of ignominies accumulated over the past few seasons.
Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rohan Jaitley and secretary Ashok Sharma will have a lot of explaining to do with regards to team selection, choice of support staff, including appointment of Sarandeep Singh, who has proved to be quite a disaster.In the case of Ranji Trophy, Delhi will need a miracle to reach the knock-outs this season even if they win their last two games outright.
In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, losing two out of four matches has left them in a precarious position.Chasing a modest target of 158, Delhi’s batters made a complete mess on a slowish track as they could never get going against Mani Shankar Murasingh’s seam-up deliveries backed by Viki Saha’s accurate off-breaks and were restricted to 145 for 8.
Little known all-rounder Murasingh, who has been quietly slogging for a decade at the first-class level, finally had his moment of glory, getting Punjab Kings and India A batter Priyansh Arya out early in the innings.
He first scored 18-ball-25 not out, which included a six and a four in the 20th over bowled by Ayush Badoni, and backed it up with 2 for 19 in four overs with 14 dot balls.Murasingh, fondly called “Ben Stokes of Tripura” by his teammates, mostly bowled slow off-cutters and pace-off deliveries on a slightly tacky pitch stopping IPL stars like Delhi skipper Nitish Rana (45 off 40 balls), Ayush Badoni (14 off 13 balls) and Priyansh (8 off 10 balls) on their tracks.
Viki shortened the length of his delivery to draw former KKR skipper out of his crease and got the off-break to turn enough for keeper Sentu Sarkar to complete a neat stumping.
Karnataka crush TN by 145 runs, courtesy Padikkal ton.
In another Group D game, Karnataka rode on Devdutt Padikkal’s unbeaten 46-ball-102 to comfortably outclass Tamil Nadu by 145 runs.
Padikkal hit 10 fours and six sixes while BR Sharath (53 off 24 balls) and Ravichandran Smaran (46 not out off 29 balls) also played their part in a commanding total of 245 for 3. India’s T20 specialist Varun Chakravarthy, for a change, was clobbered for 47 in four wicketless overs.
The chase was out of question and Tamil Nadu were bowled out for a meagre 100 in just 14.2 overs with veteran leg-spinners Shreyas Gopal and Praveen Dubey claiming three wickets apiece.
Brief Scores: Tripura 157/5 in 20 overs (Mani Shankar Murasingh 25 not out, Suyash Sharma 2/16, Digvesh Rathi 2/34) vs Delhi 145/8 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 45, Mani Shankar Murasingh 2/19). Tripura won by 12 runs.
Karnataka 245/3 in 20 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 102 not out, BR Sharath 53, R Smaran 46 not out, Sonu Yadav 2/34) vs Tamil Nadu 100 in 14.2 overs (Tushar Raheja 29, Shreyas Gopal 3/21, Praveen Dubey 3/15). Karnataka won by 145 runs. (PTI)
