Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018: Day 9 Round Up

After an eventful Sunday, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy had some interesting fixtures in store on Monday to mark the opening of a crucial week. The first match saw Punjab defeat Himachal Pradesh by 19 runs to keep their hopes alive for qualification. Manan Vohra starred with the bat for Punjab scoring a scintillating 74. His innings provided the foundation for a big total as Punjab finished on 211/4. Himachal started out good but fell shy of 19 runs to lose the match and their qualification spot for the next phase.

Shivam Chauhan’s half-century and Rahul Tewatia’s unbeaten 16-ball 29 helped Haryana secure a thrilling four-wicket win against Services to throw open the qualification hopes in the North Zone group. While Delhi is placed well atop the table with 12 points from four games, four teams have eight points which set up an interesting finish to the group, although Services have still managed to retain their second spot thanks to their good NRR.

Asked to bat, Services were reduced to 40 for 5 by the end of the powerplay. That they finished with 140 for 8 was thanks to Nakul Sharma’s 42 and the support he received from the lower order batsmen. Haryana too was left in early trouble in the chase, managing only 39 runs when they lost their third wicket in the eighth over.

Railways next face table-toppers Delhi and a win would ensure qualification as they boast of a better run-rate than second-placed Punjab.

Madhya Pradesh have to hope results go their way

In the next encounter between West Zone’s Madhya Pradesh and Railways, a disciplined bowling effort, led by Avesh Khan and Ishwar Pandey helped Madhya Pradesh secure a 24-run victory as they defended a total of 135 to end the group stage on a winning note. While they have finished with 12 points after three wins and are at the third spot, their hopes of qualification ride on other results going their way.

Vidarbha is currently second with the same number of points but has a superior Net Run Rate (NRR). On the other hand, Railways suffered their fourth loss in as many games to be condemned to the bottom of the table.

Brief scores

Himachal v Punjab, North Zone

Himachal:192/5 (PS Chopra 52, NR Gangta 52; Mayank Markande 2/35, Sandeep Sharma 1/33)

Punjab:211/4 (Manan Vohra 74, Mandeep Singh 46; KD Singh 1/33, MJ Dagar 1/38)

Vidarbha v Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh: 137/8 (Shivam Chaudhary 51, Akshdeep Nath 31; SB Wagh 3/28, RD Thakur 3/29)

Vidarbha: 131/8 (FY Fazal 32, AV Wankhade 33; Amit Mishra 4/10; Kuldeep Yadav 1/24)

Haryana v Services

Services: 140/8 (Nakul Sharma 42, DG Pathania 27; AK Chahal 3/36, JJ Yadav 2/13)

Haryana: 141/6 (SR Chauhan 54, RK Tewatia 29; DG Pathania 3/27; N Yadav 1/24)

Railways v Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh: 135/7 (HS Bhatia 50, Sohrab Dhaliwal 31; Amit Mishra 3/17, Anureet Singh 2/18)

Railways: 111/6 (Mahesh Rawat 38, Arindam Ghosh 26; Avesh Khan 2/16; Ishwar Pandey 1/15)