Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2016: Day 8 Review

1. Gujarat bowlers topple Haryana

Gujarat marched their way into the Super League stage after beating Haryana without breaking a sweat. RP Singh proved Gujarat’s decision of winning the toss and bowling first right after he struck twice in his very first over, leaving Haryana at 17/2. The Haryana middle order tied to be conservative and take the innings forward but P Patel (2/19) and J Bumrah (3/10) did not allow that to happen and gave timely blows. Wickets fell in clusters after the ten overs and Haryana were bowled out for just 95 runs. In reply, Parthiv Patel (51 from 20 balls) and Rohit Dahiya (40 from 15 balls) batted with a brutal approach and finished off the chase in no time.

Brief Scores:

Haryana: 95 all out in 20 overs (S Hooda 24; J Bumrah 3/10)

Gujarat: 99/1 in 6.4 overs (Parthiv Patel 51; J Yadav 1/30)

2. Goa earn their first victory

In another low scoring affair, Goa beat Andhra by 9 wickets to earn their first victory of the season. It was the clash between the two most unproductive team of this season. Both came into the match with just one victory to their name. Andhra batted in a very lethargic manner after being put into bat by Goa. They could manage only 97 runs on the scoreboard after 20 overs. Goa, in reply, started off badly, their opener Swapnil Asnodkar was sent packing in the second overs of the match. However, there were no further hiccups for Goa as Snehal Kauthankar (34 from 35 balls) and Sagun Kamat (61 from 50 balls) cruised past the target. Andhra, with this loss, will go home with five straightforward losses in six games.

Brief Scores:

Andhra: 97/7 in 20 overs (Himasrinivas 28; Bandekar 2/16)

Goa: 98/1 in 14.5 overs (Kamat 61; Stephen 1/11)

3. Tamil Nadu win easy

Tamil Nadu batsmen had to struggle a bit but they managed to chase the target easily in the end. Hyderabad batted first and put up a target of 141 runs for TN to win. The Hyderabad top order got off to starts but could not convert it to significant scores. In reply, Tamil Nadu lost an early wicket but Abhinav Mukund and Baba Aparajith steadied the innings. Both lost their wickets before the 10th over. But, Dinesh Kartik (43 from 31 balls) and Anthony Das (24 from 23 balls) ensured that Tamil Nadu win the match comfortably. The winning margin would have been much better had they had not lost two quick wickets during the final moment of the game.

Brief Scores:

Hyderabad: 140/8 in 20 overs (Jawed Ali 35; M Ashwin 3/18)

Tamil Nadu: 141/6 in 18.4 overs (D Kartik 43; Bhandari 2/20)

4. Harpreet Singh leads Madhya Pradesh to a successful chase

Madhya Pradesh also had a relatively easy day on the field after won they their final tie against Assam by 5 wickets. Harpreet Singh Bhatia (63 from 49 balls) and lower middle order batsmen Venkatesh Iyer (44 from 24 balls) were the top performers during the chase for MP. Assam was asked to bat first by Madhya Pradesh. However, they could not take advantage of the opportunity as most of the batsmen failed to score runs. Syed Mohammad (39 from 36) and Amit Verma (26 from 30 balls) managed to accumulate runs from their team. But, it was Amit Sinha (35 from 19 balls) who gave the real push to the Assam scoreboard and took them to 139/7 in 20 overs.

Brief Scores:

Assam: 139/7 in 20 overs (Syed Mohammad 39; Ishwar Pandey 2/27)

Madhya Pradesh:  140/5 in 19.4 overs (H S Bhatia 63; M Dutta 2/22)

5. Punjab fails to overcome Saurashtra challenge

Saurashtra put up 167/5 after winning the toss and electing to bat first. The openers gave a disappointing to Saurashtra but the middle order contributed very well to enable them to put up a challenging total in front of Punjab. Punjab were never in the chase. The Saurashtra bowlers led by Jaydev Unadkat kept picking wickets regularly and never let Punjab get into the proper rhythm during the chase. Himanshu Chawla (54 from 27 balls) and Gurinder Singh (33 from 25 balls) fought hard but their efforts were not enough in the end as Punjab lost by 19 runs.

Brief Scores:

Saurashtra: 167/5 in 20 overs (Chirag Jani 39; Jaskarandeep Singh 2/17)

Punjab: 148 all out in 19.2 overs (Himanshu Chawla 54; J Unadkat 3/19)

6. Jharkhand seal their place in the Super League stage

Jharkhand beat Kerala convincingly by 6 wickets to edge past Saurashtra to the Super League stages. Sanju Samson led Kerala very well with the bat with a 53-ball 87 run knock. He along with Roham Prem shared a 90-run partnership before Kerala lost a bunch of wickets quickly. However, they were still able to post a competitive total of 169/6 after 20 overs. Jharkhand’s response cannot be termed as dominating. All their top six batsmen batted well and kept the run rate in control. Ishank Jaggi (45 from 32 balls) and Kaushal Singh (33 from 18 balls) were the top performers for Jharkhand in the chase.

Brief Scores:

Kerala: 169/6 in 20 overs (Samson 87; Nadeem 3/31)

Jharkhand: 174/4 in 19 overs (Ishank Jaggi 45; Fabid Ahmed 2/20)

7. Vidarbha show their dominance

Vidarbha continued their good run and finished their last match of the group stage with a dominating win over Himachal. M Sharma (106 on 65 balls) bashed the Himachal bowlers all over the park and played an important role in taking Vidarbha to 183. Himachal began well as the openers gave a solid start required to chase such big total. However, once the openers were gone the Himachal team crumbled. BB Sharma (58 from 31 balls) was the only batsman who batted well in the middle order after the blazing start; rest all were dismissed for single digit scores as Himachal lost the match by 27 runs.

Brief Scores:

Vidarbha: 183/6 in 20 overs (M Sharma 106; BB Sharma 2/23)

Himachal: 156/ all out in 19.5 overs (BB Sharma 58; Wakhare 4/18)

8. Hardik Pandya’s all-round show in vain as Delhi beat Baroda to remain unbeaten

Delhi went head to head against Baroda for the top spot in the Group C. Baroda were made to bat first after Gautham Gambhir won the toss and chose to field first. The decision worked in favor as Baroda lost their opener cheaply. The middle order also could not do anything worthy. Baroda were on their back foot but all-rounder Hardik Pandya (81 from 51 balls) was batting firmly from one end and did not let the run rate dip at any moment. Swapnil Singh (28 from 22 played) also played a good supporting knock. His role was vital as Baroda were 60/6 when he arrived. With all these efforts, Baroda were able to post a decent total of 153/6 after 20 overs. Delhi also began and continued in the same manner but it was Nitish Ran (53 from 29 balls) and Milind (29 from 24 balls) who made the difference. Delhi eventually chased the target with 5 wickets and three balls to spare

Brief Scores:

Baroda: 153/6 in 20 overs (H Pandya 81; M Sharma 4/17)

Delhi: 156/5 in 19.3 overs (Nitish Rana 56; H Pandya 3/13)

9. Consolation victory for Team Rajasthan

It was a nice consolation victory for Team Rajasthan who had a forgettable tournament so far. After being put into bat first, Ankit Lamba (54 from 51 balls) and SS Dobal (71 from 37 balls) powered them to a commanding total of 174/5 in 20 overs. J&K had a slow start and never threatening enough to chase down the target. The top order batted decently but the rest of the batting line up was not upto the mark as they could only muster 129 runs eventually. Nathu Singh (3/18) was the chief troublemaker for them.

Brief Scores:

Team Rajasthan: 174/5 in 20 overs (SS Dobal 71; Omar Alam 2/25)

J&K: 129/7 in 20 overs (Mithun Manhas 36; Nathu Singh 3/18)