Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Shami Goes Wicketless As Bengal Defeat Punjab; Pandya Powers Baroda To Victory

Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami’s first white ball outing since 2023 World Cup final was below par but Bengal survived a fine all-round effort by Arshdeep Singh to eke out a four-wicket win over Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Saturday. (More Cricket News)

Shami returned with figures of 4-0-46-1 in Punjab’s total of 179 all out in 19.4 overs. 

The Bengal man earlier made his red-ball return in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore and was impressive while picking up seven wickets.

Abhishek Sharma (18 off 8 balls) did not fire but Prabhsimran Singh (35, 19 balls), Anmolpreet Singh (39 21 balls) and Arshdeep (23 not out, 11 balls) chipped in for Punjab. 

Karan Lal took three wickets for Bengal.

In reply, Shahbaz Ahmed made a 49-ball 100 as Bengal overcame a good spell by pacer Arshdeep (2/21 in 3 overs) to reach the target with an over to spare.

Hardik Fires Baroda To Win

All-rounder Hardik Pandya hammered a 74 off 35 balls (6x4, 5x6) as Baroda scored a five-wicket win over Gujarat. 

Earlier, Hardik also took a wicket while conceding 37 runs in four overs as Gujarat made 184 for five.

Axar Patel made an unbeaten 43 off 33 balls. 

But in bowling, the India left-arm spinner could not pick up any wicket while giving away 31 runs in his full quota of overs.

Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets.

Rinku’s 70 In Vain

India left-hander Rinku Singh made 70 off 38 balls (8x4, 4x6) but Uttar Pradesh failed to chase down Delhi’s mammoth 233 for three.

UP made 186 for eight.

Nitish Rana’s 42-ball 61 too went in vain. Former India pacer Ishant Sharma was impressive while taking two wickets for just 23 runs in four overs. 

For Delhi, Priyansh Arya (102, 43 balls, 5x4 10x6) and Himmat Singh (77 not out, 34 balls, 4x4, 6x6) were the main run-makers.

Samson Propels Kerala

Skipper Sanju Samson’s 75 (45 balls, 10x4, 3x6) was enough for Kerala to ward off an exceptional four for seven in three overs by Pulkit Narang to chase down Services’ 149 for nine in 18.1 overs.

Brief Scores: 

Group A: At Rajkot: Punjab: 179 all out in 19.4 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 35, Anmolpreet Singh 39, Arshdeep 23; Karan Lal 3/23) lost to Bengal: 181/6 in 19 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 100 not out, Arshdeep Singh 2/21, Abhishek Sharma 3/37) by 4 wickets. 

Group B: At Indore: Gujarat: 184/5 in 20 overs (Aarya Desai 78, Axar Patel 43 not out; Hardik Pandya 1/37, Atit Sheth 2/31) lost to Baroda: 188/5 in 19.4 overs (Hardik Pandya 74 not out, Shivalik Sharma 64; Ravi Bishnoi 2/23) by 5 wickets. 

Group C: At Mumbai: Delhi: 233/3 in 20 overs (Priyansh Arya 102, Himmat Singh 77 not out, Bhunveshwar Kumar 1/29) beat UP: 186/8 in 20 overs (Rinku Singh 70, Nitish Rana 61; Ishant Sharma 2/23) by 47 runs. 

Group E: At Hyderabad: Services: 149/9 in 20 overs (Mohit Ahlawat 41; Akhil Scaria 5/30) lost to Kerala: 153/ in 18.1 overs (Sanju Samson 75; Pulkit Narang 4/7) by 3 wickets.