Abhishek Sharma's 148 buries Bengal as Punjab pile up 310
Abhishek Sharma smashed 16 sixes and struck at 284.62 in his 52-ball 148 as Punjab posted 310 - the fourth-highest innings score in the history of T20 cricket. Abhishek was ably supported by blazing knocks from Prabhsimran Singh (70 off 35), Ramandeep Singh (39 off 15) and Sanvir Singh (22 off 8) as Punjab struck a total of 28 sixes in their innings. Mohammed Shami went for 61 in his four overs. In response, Bengal fell short by 112 runs but not before an equally sensational 66-ball 130 from Abhimanyu Easwaran. Akash Deep was the only other Bengal batter in double digits, smashing five sixes in a 7-ball 31.
Ishan Kishan smashed an unbeaten 113 off 50, hitting 10 fours and eight sixes as Jharkhand chased down Tripura's 182 with 15 balls to spare. Kishan was the aggressor in an third-wicket stand of 127 with Virat Singh, who added a steady 53 off 40. The partnership made light work of Tripura's total, which was achieved courtesy lower-order cameos from Vijay Shankar (59 off 41) and M Murasingh (42 off 21). Vikash Singh and Anukul Roy took two wickets apiece.
Manan Vohra anchored a chase of 139 with an unbeaten 48-ball 72 as Chandigarh beat Maharashtra by five wickets. Chandigarh were in a spot of bother at 43/3 but a 55-run fourth wicket stand between Vohra and Nikhil Thakur steadied the ship with the former eventually taking the team over the line. Earlier in the day, Sandeep Sharma returned figures of 2 for 18 to put the skids on Maharashtra's innings. Arshin Kulkarni top-scored with 47 but needed 41 balls to get there. Vicky Ostwal finished with a 16-ball 28 to give the team a late fillip, which ultimately wasn't enough.
Captain Karn Sharma starred with both bat and ball as Railways overcame Assam in a close finish. Karn took 2 for 23 with the ball, coming on after Atal Rai and Rahul Sharma set the tone up front as Assam were reduced to 132 for 7. Railways wobbled in the chase with Akshat Pandey making a laboured 47-ball 36, but Karn turned the tide on the head with a lower-order cameo of 24 from just 16 balls as Railways got home with two balls to spare.
Rajasthan completed a sensational one-run win over Karnataka at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad after surviving a late assault from Vidyadhar Patil. Rajasthan appeared to be getting home rather comfortably after posting 201 for 5 when they had the opposition down to 19/2 in the fourth over. But Devdutt Padikkal (32 off 21) put the chase back on track with a brisk knock before Karun Nair (51 off 32) and Smaran Ravichandran (48* off 31) took over with an 82-run stand. When Kamlesh Nagarkoti took three middle-order wickets, the game appeared to be done with Karnataka needing 46 off 15 balls. But Patil smashed two fours and three sixes from the eight balls he faced to bring the equation to 16 off the last over. Vijaykumar Vyshak swung a six off the second ball of that last over but Akash Singh produced an excellent last over to take Rajasthan over the line.
Saurav Chauhan smashed an unbeaten 81 off just 52 balls as Gujarat edged past Haryana in a last-ball finish. In a small chase of 142, Gujarat were down to 24 for 3 before Chauhan and Abhishek Desai had a small stand. Vishal Jayswal then contributed 23 before Chauhan took over and batted through to close out the chase. In the first innings, Harshal Patel and Arzan Nagwaswalla claimed three wickets each to keep Haryana down to a modest total.
Pragnay Reddy's unbeaten 67 off 34 balls - an innings studded with five sixes - helped Hyderabad chase down Goa's 160 at the Eden Gardens. Pragnay was ably supported by Aman Rao's 22-ball 40 and their 71-run stand coming off just 29 balls meant Hyderabad were well ahead of the asking rate.They got to the target with six overs to spare.
KM Asif led the attack with 3 for 16 as Kerala beat Chhattisgarh by eight wickets. The effort saw Chhattisgarh get bundled out for a modest 120 in 19.5 overs, with captain Amandeep Khare's 41 being the top score. In reply, Kerala's batters chased the target in just 10.4 overs. Sanju Samson smashed a rapid 43 off 15 balls while Rohan Kunnummal contributed a solid 33 off 17.
Vidarbha chased down 161 in just 14.5 overs to beat Odisha by eight wickets, anchored by a dominant, unbeaten 139-run third-wicket stand between Aman Mokhade (73* off 40) and Dhruv Shorey (69* off 39). Their brutal hitting left the bowlers gasping, and despite Odisha's 160/6, powered by a powerful 26-ball 40* from Prayash Singh, the total was not enough on the day.
Services beat Puducherry by seven wickets after keeping them to a modest 109. A fine spell from Mohit Ahlawat (3 for 19) set the tone and Puducherry never managed to build a meaningful partnership, the highest being 23. In reply, Services chased down the target in 13.5 overs, with Ahlawat finishing unbeaten on 46 off 26 alongside a handy 23 from Gaurav Kochar to seal a straightforward win.
Tamil Nadu beat Uttarakhand by five wickets, thanks to a match-winning 93 not out off 43 balls from R Rajkumar. Uttarakhand posted 164 for 6 in their 20 overs, with 102 of them coming in the second-wicket stand between Kunal Chandela (47 off 32) and Yuvraj Chaudhary (74 off 53) but there were no significant partnerships beyond that. In reply, Tamil Nadu paced their chase steadily and got home in 17.1 overs.
Madhya Pradesh beat Uttar Pradesh by 37 runs after putting up a competitive 184/7 in 20 overs. A steady middle order effort led by Harsh Gawali (49 off 42) and Rajat Patidar (43 off 20) along with a brisk cameo from Harpreet Singh (33 off 25) helped MP post a strong total. In reply, UP lost wickets at regular intervals despite a fighting 65 from Rinku Singh and were bowled out for 147 in 18.4 overs. Shivam Shukla and Rahul Batham combined to pick six wickets.
Auqib Nabi Dar's four-wicket haul helped J&K defend a total of 159/9, resulting in a 34-run win over Bihar. Yudhvir Singh Charak and Murugan Ashwin chipped in with a couple of wickets each while Auqib Nabi's double strike early on, which included the wickets of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Loharuka gave J&K an early head start. Qamran Iqbal's steady 40-ball 64 at the top built a winning total for them, with a 67-run stand for the second wicket with Yawer Hassan being the backbone of the total.
Baroda beat Himachal Pradesh by five wickets riding on a 19-ball 41 from Jitesh Sharma that helped them chase a target of 143 in only 17.1 overs. Innesh Mahajan top-scoring with 50 for HP, but there were no big stands to back him. For Bareoda, Shashwat Rawat (47* off 41) carried his bat and helped add quick 46 runs for the fourth wicket with Jitesh.
Nitish Rana's blistering 76 off 41 set up Delhi's 10-run win over Saurashtra, his innings along with Yash Dhull's 47 carrying them to 207/4. Saurashtra stayed in the chase through Prerak Mankad's 28-ball 50 and a couple of small middle-order stands, but Delhi's bowlers especially Suyash Sharma's three-wicket haul kept breaking partnerships and stalling the chase.
Ayush Mhatre's blazing 104 not out powered Mumbai's nine-wicket win over Andhra after they were set 160 to win. Mumbai knocked off the target in 15.2 overs, with Mhatre backed by a useful 31 from Suryakumar Yadav as the pair carried the chase with a 105-run stand for the second wicket. Andhra's 159/7 had got a fighting 48 from Ricky Bhui and 44* from Singupuram Prasad, but lacked depth beyond that. Tushar Deshpande and Sairaj Patil shared five wickets between them.
