Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2016: Day 7 Review

1. Delhi prevail Goa in an exciting low scoring match to make it five wins in a row

It was a match which everyone would have expected Goa to win. Goa chose to bowl first after winning the toss. The decision turned out to be hugely beneficial as Shadab Jakati 5/17 ripped through the middle order as Delhi were bowled out for an upsetting total of 91. However, the uncomplicated target was made to a look like a daunting task. Wickets kept falling in bunches and runs also dried. Eventually, the Delhi bowlers successfully defended the lowly score and narrowly managed to escape defeat by just 2 runs. SS Bandekar (31 from 28 balls) was the only Goa batsman who kept fighting till the end but in vain.

Brief Scores:

Delhi: 91 all out in 19.2 overs (Unmukt Chand 15; Shadab Jakati 5/17)

Goa: 89/9 in 20 overs (SS Bandekar 31; Parvinder Awana 3/21)

2. Vidarbha script another win

Vidarbha continued their great run in this tournament with yet another victory. Vidarbha were asked to chase a target of 140 after they won the toss and put Hyderabad to bat. After losing a couple of wickets early on, AV Wankhade (43* from 31 balls) and UR Patel (33 from 26) safely guided their team home. Hyderabad did not have a great start as they lost their first wicket without any runs on the scoreboard. But, Akshath Reddy (37 from 28 balls) and Hanuma Vihari (40 from 33 balls) batted well for the second wicket. The lower middle order also contributed with some handy runs to take their team total to 139/7 20 overs.

Brief Scores:

Hyderabad: 142/5 in 20 overs (Vihari 40; D Thakur 3/29)

Vidarbha: 139/7 in 20 overs (V Wankhade 43; V Milind 2/26)

3. Jharkhand defeat Saurashtra by seven wicket to take the second place in Group B

Saurashtra’s under-par batting performance conceded a easy seven-wicket victory to Jharkhand. Saurashtra could only post 128/5 after 20 overs. This was largely possible due to the half-century by Cheteshwar Pujara (54 from 52 balls). In reply, Jharkhand batted sensibly. The top order performed really well and had no problems in chasing down the target with three balls to spare.

Brief Scores:

Saurashtra: 128/5 in 20 overs (Pujara 54; SK Singh 2/23)

Jharkhand: 132/3 in 19.3 overs (Virat Singh 41; SM Sanandia 2/22)

4. Pallav Kumar Das powers Assam to victory

Railways had a decent day batting wise as they posted 142/8 but the target was simply not enough to defend as Pallav Kumar Das (77 from 43 balls) made the chase look very easy. Das combined with Syed Mohammad (36* from 39 balls) to enable Assam win the game.

Brief Scores:

Assam: 142/8 on 20 overs (Mahesh Rawat 72; Amit Verma 3/20)

Railways: 147/5 in 18.2 overs (PK Das 77; Ashish Yadav 2/20)

5. Dogra stars for Himachal in run chase

Tamil Nadu were able to set up a target of 168 after being put to bat first by Himachal who won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Himachal bowlers were at their best today. Tamil Nadu batsmen constantly struggled to stay afloat and were at 93/6. However, R Satish (41 from 21 balls) and J Kousik (27 from 18 balls) provided some late resistance and too Tamil Nadu to a decent level. In reply, Himachal batsmen batted wisely and chased the target comfortably in just 16.5 overs. K Dogra (79 from 33 balls) was at his aggressive best and ripped the Tamil Nadu bowlers.

Brief Scores:

Tamil Nadu: 168 in 20 overs (R Satish 41; RK Singh 1/17)

Himachal Pradesh: in 16.5 overs (K Dogra 79; M Ashwin 1/28)

6. Baroda ride on Irfan Pathan’s brilliance

Andhra could not take advantage of the toss as their batsmen let them down completely. Barring, KS Bharat (30 from 34 balls), rest other just fell like a pack of cards. A late surge by Ayyappa Bandaru (24 from 18 balls) was helpful but the team could only manage 91 eventually. Surprisingly, Baroda had to struggle a bit during the chase. The match looked to be leaning on Andhra’s side after the fall of Hardik Pandya and Yusuf Pathan. However, Irfan Pathan, who had a calm day with the ball, made most of the batting opportunity. Pathan (28 from 25 balls) batted with responsibility and saw his team past the finish line.

Brief Scores:

Andhra: 91/9 in 20 overs (S Bharat 30; B Bhatt 2/5)

Baroda: 93/7 in 16.5 overs (Irfan Pathan 28; Sudhakar 3/15)

Read the full report – Irfan Pathan takes Baroda into the knockouts of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

7. Bengal fails to chase an easy target

Haryana team must have wondered that they could have done much better than the total of 127/3 in 20 overs. Despite having wickets in their hand, the Haryana team could never jet towards a big total. NR Saini (74 from 59 balls) was the top scorer for Haryana but the rest of the batsmen were very disappointing. In reply, the Bengal batsmen showed a very lethargic approach while chasing. Their batsmen kept falling apart and in addition to that the run rate was also steadily soaring. R Mishra (4/30) was the chief tormentor for the Bengal as they eventually folded at 110/8 in 20 overs, losing the match by 17 runs.

Brief Score:

Haryana: 127/3 in 20 overs (R Saini 74; M Kumar 1/14)

Bengal: 110/8 in 20 overs (W Saha 32; R Mishra 4/30)

8. Punjab lose to Kerala by five wickets

Punjab, powered by Yuvraj Singh’s 54 from 44 balls, could only post a manageable total of 135/7 after 20 overs. The credit must go to the Kerala bowlers who bowled miserly spells and also kept striking from time to time. Kerala started the chase very well with a 62-run opening partnership. They lost a couple of wickets after the opening partnership was broken. However, Sanju Samson (72 from 56 balls) kept going strongly and Kerala emerged victorious by 5 wickets in the end. The winning margin would have been even better if Samson and Vincent Gomez had not lost their wickets just when only 2 runs were required to win.

Brief Scores:

Punjab: 135/7 in 20 overs (Yuvraj Singh 54; Padmanathan 3/11)

Kerala: 139/5 in 19.5 overs (Samson 72; Harbhajan Singh 2/19)

9. Tripura edges past Team Rajasthan

The Group B encounter between Team Rajasthan and Tripura was a closely fought low scoring game. Nathu Singh (4/25) threatened to take the game away from Tripura but the tail enders somehow managed to sneak past the finishing line. Earlier, Team Rajasthan batted very ordinarily and could manage only 112/9 after 20 overs wit Rajat Bhatia top scoring for them with a run a ball knock of 34 runs.

Brief Scores

Team Rajasthan: 112/9 in 20 overs (Bhatia 34; K Saha 2/8)

Tripura: 113/9 in 20 overs (A Dey 43; Nathu Singh 4/25)