Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 – Super League Day 4, Round-up

The day started with a superlative encounter between Uttar Pradesh and Baroda, followed by a one-sided affair between Tamil Nadu and Bengal and ended with a humiliating loss for Jharkhand.

Published - 24 Jan 2018, 20:53 IST | Updated - 24 Jan 2018, 20:53 IST

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The Super League Stage of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy entered the penultimate level which witnessed some turnarounds, joyful moments, and sheer determination to win the contest. The day started with a superlative encounter between Uttar Pradesh and Baroda, followed by a one-sided affair between Tamil Nadu and Bengal and ended with a humiliating loss for Jharkhand.

In the first of four encounters, UP skipper Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to bowl first since the pitch was expected to stay the same for forty overs. On a good batting track, Baroda openers got off to a flyer and made 74 runs together, setting the tone for the innings.

Urvil Patel went on to score 96 runs and Baroda eventually put up a mammoth total of 192 runs on the board. In reply, UP lost an early wicket, but Shivam Chaudhary’s departure brought skipper Suresh Raina to the crease who seems to be in scintillating touch as he scored yet another half-century. Although Raina scored a half-century, Umang Sharma was the star for UP and they got over the line with one over to spare.

The second match between Tamil Nadu and Bengal was nothing short of a one-way traffic as Bengal had too much firepower and managed to upstage the opposition. TN skipper opting to bat first in the day game at Eden Gardens couldn’t manage to post a fighting total and ended up with just 129 runs. The man-in-form for Bengal, Sudip Chatterjee played a sensational inning of 51 runs and was well supported by Writtick Chatterjee; the duo helped their side overhaul the target quite comfortably.

The third match was played between Rajasthan and Mumbai. Terrific performance from Rajasthan ousted Mumbai from the tournament and they now sit well on top of the table. While batting first, Rajasthan lost three wickets in quick succession all for 12 runs.

However, skipper Mahipal Lomror had some other plans as he scored 74 runs off 55 deliveries, laden with 4 fours and sixes. Mumbai were in a commanding position when Akhil Herwadkar was batting but his dismissal proved to be decisive. After his dismissal, Suryakumar Yadav hit a few boundaries but had no support from other ends. After this victory, Rajasthan seem to be the favourites to advance through to final.

The last encounter between Karnataka and Jharkhand was a mixture of dominance, sheer power, and some sensational batting and bowling from one end. Seeing yesterday’s condition, Jharkhand opted to bowl first. Little did they know, Karun Nair will be full monty. He smacked the ball all around the park scoring a dazzling hundred off just 51 balls before he got out.

On the back of his knock, Karnataka posted 201 runs on the board. They needed someone to play until the end and help them win the contest. However, no one really got going as they lost by a huge margin of 123 runs which is very rarely seen in T20 format.