Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy wrap: Punjab thrash Karnataka, Bengal and Maharashtra record important wins

Punjab thrashed Karnataka by nine wickets in an Elite Group A match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament at the KSCA ground in Alur.

Simran Singh starred with a 52-ball 89 to help Punjab to an easy victory but the real damage was done by the bowlers who restricted a strong Karnataka side to 125/8 in the 20 overs.

Siddarth Kaul was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab as picked up four wickets for just 26 runs in his overs.

In the other game in Elite Group A, Railways beat Uttar Pradesh by wickets thanks to half-centuries from Mrunal Devdhar and Shivam Chaudhary.

It was a combined effort by the Railways bowlers to restrict UP to 133-8. Kanishk Seth, Dhrushant Soni and Harsh Tyagi all bagged two wickets each.

Railways eased to the target with 14 balls to spare.

It was also a good day for Jammu and Kashmir who beat Tripura in the other Elite Group A match. Aquib Nabi and Abid Mushtaq worked the magic with the ball as Tripura were bowled out for 93.

J&K reached the target in 14.5 overs with Suryansh Raina top-scoring with 33.

Vivek Singh stars as Bengal beat Jharkhand for 2nd straight win

Opener Vivek Singh hammered a 64-ball 100 to star in Bengal’s 16-run win over Jharkhand in an Elite Group B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament here on Tuesday.

The home team had earlier notched up a victory over Odisha on the opening day (January 10).

Opting to bat first at the Eden Gardens, Bengal rode on left-handed Singh’s stroke-filled century to make 161 for 6 in 20 overs. Singh’s knock was studded with 13 fours and 3 sixes.

This was his first T20 hundred and his shot selection must have impressed the IPL scouts present at the Eden Gardens, including KKR’’s talent scout Saurashish Lahiri.

After a first wicket partnership of 60 between Singh and Shreevats Goswami (27, 28 balls, 3 fours), the home team faltered as none of the other batsmen got going.

The Jharkhand bowlers did well to hit back after a solid start by Singh and Goswami and picked up the important wickets of skipper Anustup Majumdar and Manoj Tiwary to stymie the Bengal scoring.

In reply, Jharkhand saw opener Anand Singh (13) fall in the third over. Captain Ishan Kishan (22) and Virat Singh (47, 35 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) raised 38 runs for the second wicket.

When the duo was looking to up the scoring rate, Kishan was snared by Arnab Nandi.

The wickets of Kumar Suraj, Pankaj Kumar and Virat in quick succession pegged Jharkhand back further.

Despite some aggression shown by Utkarsh Singh (28, 14 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes), Jharkhand fell short by 16 runs.

In another match in the group, Hyderabad pulled off a six-run win over Odisha.

In the third Group B match of the day, a dominant Tamil Nadu routed Assam by 10 wickets at the Eden Gardens.

The TN bowlers came up with an impressive performance as spinners – Murugan Ashwin (2/16) and R Sai Kishore (2/17) – shone to help restrict the opposing team to 126 for seven in 20 overs.

In response, N Jagadeesan (78 not out, 8 fours, 3 sixes) and C Hari Nishaanth (47, 40 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) powered Tamil Nadu home in 15 overs.

Jadhav, Shaikh steer Maharashtra to 8-wicket win over Chhattisgarh

Kedar Jadhav and Naushad Shaikh struck unbeaten half-centuries as Maharashtra defeated Chhattisgarh by eight wickets in their Elite Group ‘’C’’ game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament here on Tuesday.

Opting to bat at the FB Colony ground, Chhattisgarh posted a mammoth 192 for five on the board, but Jadhav (84 not out off 45 balls) and Naushad Shaikh (78 not out off 44 balls) made light work of the opposition bowlers and ensured that their team emerged triumphant.

Maharashtra, who had lost their opening match against Gujarat, were reeling at 30 for 2, having lost openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (15) and skipper Rahul Tripathi (14) cheaply.

But then it was a Jadhav-Shaikh show as the duo took a listless Chhattisgarh attack to the cleaners.

While Jadhav, who has played ODIs and T20s for India, hammered five fours and as many sixes, Naushad struck 10 boundaries and two maximums in his knock.

The two played round the park, conjuring a match winning 166-run stand for the third wicket and took the game away from their opposition.

Earlier, contributions from openers Rishabh Tiwari (44), Shashank Chandrakar (44), skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia (42) along with a late cameo by Shashank Singh (24 not out off 8 balls) propelled Chhattisgarh to 192 for 5.

Brief Scores:

At FB Colony Ground: Chhattisgarh 192/5 (Rishabh Tiwari 44; Shashank Chandrakar 44; Manoj Ingle 2/43) lost to Maharashtra 196/2 (Kedar Jadhav 84 not out; Naushad Shaikh 78 not out; Veer Pratap Singh 1/23) by 8 wickets.

At Reliance Ground: Himachal Pradesh 109 (Prashant Chopra 39; Amit Kumar 19; Babashafi Pathan 3/9, L Meriwala 3/13) lost to Baroda 112/6 (Kedar Devdhar 49 not out, Abhimanyu Singh 15; Vaibhav Arora 2/34) by four wickets.

At Motibaug Cricket Ground: Gujarat 172/5 (Priyank Panchal 46; Ripal Patel 41 not out; D Negi 2/25) won against Uttarakhand 99/8 (Jay Bista 26, Karanveer Kaushal 25; Piyush Chawla 3/12, Arzan Nagwaswalla 2/19) by 73 runs.

Bengal 161 for 6 in 20 overs (Vivek Singh 100 not out, Shreevats Goswami 27, Monu Kumar 3/30) beat Jharkhand 145 for 9 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 47, Utkarsh Singh 28) by 16 runs. Bengal: 4 points, Jharkhand: 0.

Hyderabad 153 for 8 in 30 overs (Tilak Varma 44, Tanmay Agarwal 34, Suryakant Pradhan 3/34) beat Odisha 147 for 4 in 20 overs (Govinda Poddar 50, Subhransu Senapati 42 not out, Rajesh Dhupar 30 not out, C V Milind 2/24) by six runs. Hyderabad: 4 points, Odisha: 0.

Assam 126 for 7 in 20 overs (Rajjakuddin Ahmed 29, Riyan Parag 24, Murugan Ashwin 2/16, R Sai Kishore 2/17) lost to Tamil Nadu 128 for no loss in 15 overs (N Jagadeesan 78 not out, C Hari Nishaanth 47) by 10 wickets. TN: 4 points, Assam: 0.

(With PTI inputs)