Defending champions Tamil Nadu outplayed Odisha by five wickets in a group E fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 T20 tournament on Wednesday. (More Cricket News)
Skipper Baba Aparajith (63 not out) played the role of sheet anchor to perfection, notching up an unbeaten 63-run knock after Tamil Nadu bowlers, led by T Natarajan, restricted Odisha to below 150.
Opting to bat, Odisha rode on half-centuries by Subhranshu Senapati (65) and Anshy Rath (51) to post 141/3. In reply, Tamil Nadu got off to a strong start despite Gujarat Titans player Sai Sudershan's (14) dismissal in the fourth over.
CSK opener N Jagadeesan (35) slammed three boundaries and a six and added 48 runs with Aparajith. But the Odisha bowlers did well to stage a comeback as they picked up a flurry of wickets to rattle to defending champions.
With the wickets falling like ninepins at the other end, Aparajith kept his calm and continued with business as usual. The 28-year-old batting all-rounder sent the ball to the fence seven times and was ably supported by M Shahrukh Khan (19) as the two shared a vital 46-ran stand.
In the end, Tamil Nadu knocked off the target with seven balls to spare. Earlier, out-of-favour left-arm medium pacer Natarajan (2/32) did well to break the partnership between Senapati and Rath. The Tamil Nadu bowlers then bowled well at the death as the Odisha batters failed to accelerate.
In another match in the group, Gaurav Puri slammed an unbeaten 47-ball 93 to power Chandigarh to a 66-run win over Sikkim. Puri put up six-hitting exhibition as he sent the ball over the fence nine times and along with Ankit Kaushik (65) helped Chandigarh post a daunting 178/3.
In reply, Sikkim could only manage 112/9 in their quota of 20 overs as Sandeep Sharma picked a three-wicket haul (3/22). The third match in the group between Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Other Group E Matches
Chhattisgarh vs Jharkhand: Match abandoned without a ball bowled.
Brief Scores: Chandigarh 178/2 in 20 overs (Gaurav Puri 93 not out, Ankit Kaushik 65 not out; Lee Yong Lepcha 1/21, James Rai 1/37) beat Sikkim 112 for 9 in 20 overs (Ashish Thapa 52; Sandeep Sharma 3/22.)
Group B
Captain Nitish Rana smashed a magnificent hundred as Delhi comfortably beat Punjab by 12 runs in a Group B fixture. Rana, a T20 specialist and Kolkata Knight Riders star, was simply too good for the Punjab bowling unit as he scored 107 off only 61 balls with the help of nine fours and seven sixes to take Delhi to a solid 191 for 4 in 20 overs.
In reply, Punjab could only manage 179 for 5 with Ishant Sharma picking up 2 for 35 in his 4 overs. Rana also did star turn with his off-breaks, picking 2/24 in 3 overs.
Earlier, Rana scored his maiden T20 hundred off only 55 balls and also added 173 runs in just 16.4 overs with U-19 World Cup-winning India captain Yash Dhull (66 not out off 45 balls), who also got his first half-century in shortest format.
Dhull, playing only his second T20 game, smashed four fours and as many sixes. Rana and Dhull were especially severe on Punjab Kings left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, who was hit for 32 runs in his two overs, including two fours and three towering sixes.
Almost all the Punjab bowlers were punished save Abhishek Sharma, who was brilliant with the new ball in the Powerplay overs, finishing with figures of 2/16 in 3 overs. Abhishek did give Punjab the upperhand at the beginning, removing openers Anuj Rawat and Hiten Dalal but once the medium pacers came into operation, Dhull and Rana took control of proceedings.
Other Group B Matches
Brief Scores: Manipur 134/9 (Nitish Sedai 53, Arjun Tendulkar 2/20, Felix Alemao 2/31) beat Goa 138/3 in 17. 2 overs (Siddhesh Lad 59, Suyash Prabhudesai 43) by 7 wickets.
Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 163/6 in 20 overs (Akshdeep Nath 37, Priyam Garg 31, Parvez Sultan 2/29) lost Tripura 166/4 in 19.3 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 49 not out, Wriddhiman Saha 7) by 6 wickets.
Brief Scores: Hyderabad 147/8 (Tilak Verma 57, Mickil Jaiswal 44, Bharat Sharma 4/18) beat Puducherry 143/4 (R Raghupathy 35) by 4 runs.
Group D
Samarth Vyas blazed away to 97 off 52 balls to power Saurashtra to a four-wicket win over Baroda in a Group D on Wednesday. Chasing 176, Vyas single-handedly steered Saurashtra to their highest successful run chase in the tournament.
With 96 needed of the last eight overs, the 26-year-old upped the ante. He first hit impact substitute Safvan Patel, who came in for Dhruv Patel, for a four to bring up his fifty in style and then whacked two sixes to collect 20 runs of the 14th over.
In the groove, Vyas along with Jay Gohill (17 not out) plundered 45 runs off the next two overs. The duo hit four maximums and three boundaries. Vyas unfortunately feel three runs short of what would have been a well-deserved century. His innings was studded with nine sixes and five fours.
Earlier, Mitesh Patel and Vishnu Solanki struck scintillating half-centuries to help Baroda post a challenging 175 for 4. The duo laid a solid platform with a 48-run partnership before Bhanu Pania (26 not out off 10) and Krunal Pandya (17 not out off 15) provided the late flourish.
In the day and night game, Bihar trounced Nagaland by six wicket in a low scoring match.
Other Group D Matches
Andhara v Himachal Pradesh: Match abandoned without a ball bowled.
Brief Scores: Nagaland 145/8 in 20 overs (Rongsen Jonathan 66, Chetan Bist 43; Anuj Raj 4/32) lost Bihar 148/4 in 19.1 overs (Mangal Mahrour 47; Nagaho Chishi 1/22) by six wickets.
Group C
Spinners Amit Mishra, Rahul Tewatia and left-arm orthodox Nishant Sindhu took three wickets apiece as Haryana crushed Meghalaya by 83 runs in a group C match on Wednesday. Batting first, Haryana scored 136/7 on a difficult track with Tewatia making his presence felt with 35 off 19 balls.
In reply, Meghalaya were bundled out for 53 in 14.3 overs with Tewatia (3/4 in 1.3 overs), Mishra (3/10 in 4 overs) and Sindhu (3/15 in 4 overs) sharing the bulk of the spoils. Chirag Khurana (21) and Dippu Sangma (11) were the only batters to reach double digits.
Other Group C Matches
Brief Scores: Kerala 179/4 (Mohammed Azharuddeen 95 off 47 balls) beat Karnataka 126/9 (Mayank Agarwal 0, Devdutt Padikkal 9, Abhinav Manohar 46, Vyshak Chandran 4/11) by 53 runs.
