Guwahati: Riding on a 92-run opening stand between Shivam Chaudhary and Pratham Singh, the Railways handed Assam an 8-wicket defeat in a Group C contest of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy in Saurashtra on Tuesday.
Chasing a paltry 135, the Railways got the perfect start from the opening pair, with Shivam scoring a cracking 53-ball 62 to lead the charge. Pratham, on the other hand, played the perfect second fiddle with a 35-ball 38, before Vivek Singh (16 not out) and stumper Upendra Yadav (15) helped the side overhaul the target with seven balls to spare.
For Assam, Riyan Parag, who raged a lone battle with the willow, scoring an unbeaten 49 to propel the side to 134/5, also picked a wicket with his leg-break bowling. Rishav Das was the other notable contributor for Assam with a 32-ball 35, even as the side succumbed to its third loss in five outings of the tournament.
In Jaipur, Punjab trounced a hapless Manipur by 9 wickets in a Group B fixture. Led by leg-spinner Mayank Markande’s miserly 4/4, Punjab managed to bundle Manipur for a meagre 40 in 14.1 overs, largely built on Rex Rajkumar’s 25 runs. In response, all-rounder Abhishek Sharma came up with a breezy 18-ball 28 to help Punjab reach the total with 87 balls remaining.
In Indore, Gujarat outclassed Nagaland by 9 wickets in a Group D tie. Put in to bat, Nagaland rode on Shrikant Mundhe’s 39-ball 45 and Rongsen Jonathan’s 19-ball 24 to propel the team to a respectable 119/8. In reply, Gujarat banked on a breath-taking 35-ball 84 from Saurav Chauhan to romp home with 61 balls to spare.
In Lucknow. Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran’s duck hardly mattered for the side, as Sudip Kumar Gharami (56) and latest India entrant Shahbaz Ahmed (43) joined forces to add 69 runs for the fourth wicket and put on a formidable 179/6 against Sikkim. The NE side, in response, was restricted to a meagre 95/8 in their stipulated 20 overs, to eventually go down by 84 runs in their Group E contest.
Mizoram faced a similar fate in their Group A encounter against Madhya Pradesh, losing by 6 wickets in Rajkot. Mizoram’s decision to bat on winning the toss, completely backfired as the team was restricted to 94/6 in their 20 overs, mostly aided by Kamal Tripathi’s 4/11. In reply, Shubham Sharma (31) and Siddharth Patidar (25) helped MP take control of the proceedings.
In Mohali, Arunachal Pradesh was humbled by Karnataka by 10 wickets. Mayank Agarwal led Karnataka’s hunt for Arunachal’s meagre target of 76, by scoring an unbeaten 21-ball 47, laced with five fours and three sixes, even as Devdutt Padikkal remained a silent spectator at the other end, scoring a 20-ball 28 to complete the rout in style. For Arunachal, Rohan Sharma (18), Suraj Tiwary (11) and Kamsha Yangfo (16) were the only ones to reach double digits.
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