Minor League Cricket 2021: Unmukt Chand scores a match-winning 56* for his team Silicon Valley Strikers

On the back of Chand's unbeaten knock, his team chased down 132 runs without much fuss.

Published - 23 Aug 2021, 14:37 IST | Updated - 23 Aug 2021, 14:37 IST

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Earlier this month, Indian cricketer Unmukt Chand, who led India to the U19 World Cup in 2012, quit playing cricket for his country due to lack of opportunities. He soon signed a multi-year contract with the Minor League Cricket in the USA and is currently featuring for the Silicon Valley Strikers in the tournament. It took some time for him to sizzle in the competition and scored a match-winning half-century on Sunday.

It was the game between Silicon Valley Strikers and Golden State Grizzlies at Morgan Hill. Chand’s team won the toss and opted to field first. Only Karan Chandel did well for the Grizzlies scoring 45 runs off 42 balls with one four and four sixes during his stay in the middle. The innings also received a late impetus from Hammad Azam who scored 25 off 14 balls which propelled them to 131/8 in 20 overs.

For the Strikers, Abhishek Paradkar and Pranay Suri turned out to be the best bowlers with the figures of 3/25 and 2/16 respectively.

Chand shines after a slow start

The 132-run chase wasn’t going to be easy with a tricky pitch on offer. But the Strikers’ openers Unmukt Chand and Arsh Buch got the team off to a brilliant start. The latter was the aggressor among the two smashing 44 off 31 balls as the two stitched 73 runs together in 11.2 overs.

5️⃣0️⃣ for @UnmuktChand9, his first in #MinorLeagueCricket – and it comes up with a 💪6️⃣! pic.twitter.com/um20ygbDXq
— Minor League Cricket (@MiLCricket) August 23, 2021

Once Buch got out, Chand took control of the innings and made sure to hold one end. The Strikers lost couple more wickets cheaply at the other end. Things could’ve got tricky for them but Unmukt Chand made sure that he batted till the end and got his team over the line. The stylish strokes started flowing from his bat after a slow start and he reached his fifty with a trademark pull shot off a short delivery.

Chand remained unbeaten on 56 off 57 balls with three sixes and as many fours as the Silicon Valley Strikers reached the target in the 19th over of the innings. The Strikers opener Chand will now be looking forward to continuing in the same vein for the rest of the tournament.