KM Asif picks five as Mumbai collapse against Kerala in chase
Mumbai suffered a dramatic collapse, falling from 127/3 to 163 all-out in chase of Kerala's 178/5. Fast bowler KM Asif triggered it, finishing with figures of 5/24 in 3.4 overs. Earlier, Kerala were powered by Sanju Samson, who smashed 46 off 28 opening the batting while Vishnu Vinod (43 off 40), Mohammed Azharuddeen (32 off 25) and Sharafuddeen (35* off 15) consolidated well to push the team to a good total. Mumbai lost Ayush Mhatre early in chase but were propped up by an 80-run stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Sarfaraz Khan, with the latter scoring a half-century. Once Rahane was dismissed, Suryakumar Yadav walked in and made 32 off 25. Even after Sarfaraz fell, Suryakumar and Shivam Dube kick-started a stand worth 28 runs. But once that was broken, a middle-order procession followed. Asif bowled a triple-wicket 18th over to see the back of Sairaj Patil, Suryakumar and Shardul Thakur to leave the side struggling at 149/7. Asif then capped off his fifer in the final over to earn his team a 15-run victory
Tanay Thyagarajan (50 off 33) and Pragnay Reddy (31 off 29) pushed Hyderabad ahead in a low-scoring chase against Jammu & Kashmir at the Jadavpur University Campus in Kolkata. This came after left-arm spinner Nitin Sai Yadav and captain Chama Milind picked three wickets apiece in an effort that saw Hyderabad bundle out J&K for just 115. J&K captain Shubham Khajuria's 35 off 33 was the best batting effort. Auqib Nabi, Yudhvir Singh Charak and Murugan Ashwin picked two wickets each but that wasn't enough as Thyagarajan and Pragnay revived the chase from 38/4 with a 72-run partnership. Thyagarajan fell in the 18th over but Pragnay saw the chase through with four wickets and 3.5 overs to spare.
Lower-order contributions from the troika of Kamlesh Nagarkoti (37* off 32), Kunal Singh Rathore (27 off 27) and Ashok Sharma (15* off 7) propelled Rajasthan to an unlikely victory over Saurashtra in Ahmedabad. Chasing Saurashtra's 145, Rajasthan were in dire straits at 57/6 in the ninth over. Rathore and Nagarkoti then added a slow, but important 38-run stand off 54 deliveries to keep their side in the hunt. Chirag Jani ended that alliance in the 16th over to still keep his side ahead. Nagarkoti next partnered Sahil Dhiwan for the addition of 22 from the next three overs before Ashok Sharma walked in. Parth Bhut finished with astonishing figures of 3-9 in four overs but was still on the losing side as the ninth-wicket partnership - of 22 from 10 balls, took Rajasthan over the line. Saurashtra could've perhaps posted a bigger total if their opener Vishvaraj Jadeja - who scored 69 off 40, had better support with the bat. Siddhant Rana's 23 was the next best effort on their scorecard as Ashok Sharma picked 4 wickets for just 20 runs. Nagarkoti and Rahul Chahar also bagged two wickets each to tie down Saurashtra to a sub-150 total and did just enough to chase it down.
Yashvardhan Dalal hit seven fours and four sixes in a 44-ball 76, captain Ankit Kumar made 44 off 23 and Arsh Ranga scored 39 off 28 as Haryana made short work of Himachal Pradesh's 176/8, chasing it down in 18 overs with seven wickets to spare. Himachal Pradesh recovered from an early slump through a third-wicket stand between Ekant Sen (44 off 35) and Pukhraj Mann (43 off 21), while Mridul Surroch also made valuable additions (31* off 24). But the batting side was still kept on a leash through three-fers for Anshul Kamboj and Anuj Thakral. Haryana then flew through a 68-run opening stand inside the PowerPlay, which was followed by good consolidation. Ranga and Dalal put on 41 off 32 and Dalal and Nishant Sindhu added 57 off 34 to ace the chase.
Raj Limbani led the way with a spell of 3 for 5 in 2.1 overs as Baroda bundled out Gujarat for just 73 in the 15th over. Atit Sheth picked two wickets while the Pandya brothers and Rasikh Salam bagged a wicket each as eight batters fell for single-digit scores, including two ducks. Opener Aarya Desai's 22 was the best batting effort. Shashwat Rawat (30* off 19) and Vishnu Solanki (27 off 15) added 55 for the first wicket in five overs to hasten their team's victory. Ravi Bishnoi picked two wickets but Baroda completed the win in the seventh over.
Anukul Roy's bowling and the top-order's batting effort laid the foundation for Jharkhand's seven-wicket win over Uttarakhand in Ahmedabad. Kunal Chandela got a half-century at the top of the order but batters around him fell in a jiffy. They were tottering at 93/6 when a seventh-wicket partnership between Avneesh Sudha and Jagadeesha Suchith worth 57 runs offered revival. It pushed Uttarakhand to a respectable 150/7 in 20 overs, giving their bowlers a total to work with. Ishan Kishan gave the target an early forceful push before falling for a seven-ball 21 in the second over. His opening partner Utkarsh Singh and Kumar Kushagra put on 59 runs for the second wicket to wipe out more than half the target as they edged closer to the mid-point of the innings. Both the batters fell in the second half of the chase but Virat Singh arrived and went hammer and tongs with a 22-ball 43 - laced with two fours and three sixes. Anukul batted with him and hit the winning runs - a six on the first ball of the 17th over.
Sameer Rizvi's 42-ball 70, Madhav Kaushik's 41-ball 67 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 3-23 set up Uttar Pradesh's 40-run victory against Chandigarh despite Sandeep Sharma's four-fer and Manan Vohra's 35-ball 61. After Aryan Juyal fell in the first over, Kaushik and Siddarth Yadav put on 54 off just 28 balls. Sandeep ended this partnership with the wicket of Yadav, bringing Kaushik and Rizvi together for an alliance worth 86 runs off the next 9 overs. Rizvi's innings was ended in the 18th over, when Rinku Singh walked in to smash 24 off 10. This took UP to 212-7 in 20 overs. In reply, Vohra was solid but lost two other top-order batting partners by the third over. He and Nikhil Thakur put the chase back on track as UP reached 100 in the 11th over but Kartik Tyagi ended Vohra's essay in the same over. From 100/3, Chandigarh collapsed to 128/6 in the 15th over, falling well behind the eight-ball in chase. Amrit Lubana pushed from the lower order with a 23-ball 30 but Chandigarh still fell well short.
Mukhtar Hussain (3-36), Akash Sengupta (3-12) and Avinov Choudhury (2-20) drove Assam's push for a big win after fifties from middle-order batters Abdul Ajij Kuraishi and Nihar Deka. The duo helped revive Assam from 29/3 with a partnership of 115 runs from 68 deliveries. They faltered a touch after this stand was broken but still managed to finish with 175/7. In response, Vidarbha were down to 9/3 in the second over. They too needed a big innings-reviving stand, but didn't get one. Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod arrested the slide with a 40-run alliance but once that was breached, the rest of the batting order crumbled. Harsh Dubey scored a run-ball 23 in futility as his team was bundled out for 117 in the 18th over.
Goa overhauled Bihar's 181-run target in a game that went down to the last over. Powered by opener Kashyap Bakhale's 64 and then by skipper Suyash Prabhudessai's 79, Goa registered a five-wicket win. Lalit Yadav also made an important contribution of 21 off 12 as his side got over the line with just one ball to spare. Earlier, Vaibhav Suryavanshi got Bihar off to an electric start after they were asked to bat first. A 59-run opening stand that ended just before the conclusion of the PowerPlay was followed by a 65-run association between Akash Raj and captain Sakibul Gani. Bihar, however, lost their way after that pair was separated in the 15th over. Deepraj Gaonkar starred with the ball for Goa with figures of 4-38 while Arjun Tendulkar chipped in with 2-32.
Mohammed Shami's Player of the Match worthy spell of 4-13 in 3.2 overs, complemented by Akash Deep's 3-27, saw Bengal bowl Services out for 165 in 18.2 overs after opting to bowl first. Shami struck off the very first ball of the game getting Gaurav Kochar to edge behind. A 67-run stand between Mohit Ahlawat and Vineet Dhankar was the only substantial partnership Services could manage with wickets tumbling at regular intervals. While Bengal lost opener Karan Lal for a duck, the rest of their chase was uneventful with Abhishek Porel and Abhimanyu Easwaran hitting fifties. A quick 5-ball 14-run blitz from Akash Deep, batting at number five, saw Bengal polish the total off in 15.1 overs.
Andhra registered a comfortable eight-wicket win over Chattisgarh after completing a routine 159-run chase. Opting to bat first, Chhattisgarh could only manage a middling total as they struggled for momentum with wickets falling at regular intervals. Shashank Singh top-scored with a 29-ball 46 while skipper Amandeep Khare added 44 off 35. Fifties from Ashwin Hebbar and Shaik Rasheed meant that Andhra reached the target with eight wickets and seven balls to spare.
Delhi successfully defended 233 with Karnataka falling 45 runs short despite a spirited chase. Yash Dhull was the only Delhi batter to miss out on what was a run-fest at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Priyansh Arya set the tone early with his 33-ball 62 which included six sixes and he shared a massive 110-run stand with Ayush Badoni who finished with 53. Nitish Rana (46* off 28) and Tejasvi Dahiya (53* off 19) provided firepower at the death as Delhi's score soared beyond 200 with the duo smashing 90 runs off the last five overs. In pursuit, Karnataka weren't allowed the luxury of a quick start and lost both openers in the PowerPlay. Devdutt Padikkal made a fighting 62 before Smaran Ravichandran kept his team's hopes alive with his 72. However, contributions from the rest of the order remained bleak as Karnataka were bowled out for 187 in the final over. Badoni starred with the ball too as he picked up 4-12 in two overs.
Tamil Nadu claimed a handsome 61-run win over Tripura after setting a sizable 205-run target. Asked to bat first, Tamil Nadu were rocked early after losing four wickets inside the PowerPlay. Their innings was steadied and revived thereafter by a crucial 119-run stand between captain Narayan Jagadeesan (83) and Sai Kishore (87*). The stand was broken by Indrajit Debnath only in the 17th over but it marked the beginning of a brutal 59-run partnership between R Rajkumar and Kishore who went berserk. In reply, Tripura endured a similarly poor start as they too lost four wickets inside the PowerPlay. The similarities continued as Vijay Shankar and Swapnil Singh attempted to rebuild but once their 60-run stand was broken in the 12th over, the rest of the order folded without offering much resistance.
A remarkable all-round show from captain Abhishek Sharma headlined Punjab's 54-run win over Puducherry at Hyderabad. Opting to bat first, Punjab were off to an absolute flier as Abhishek smacked 34 runs off just 9 balls, including three sixes and four fours, in the first two overs. They were, however, reeled back after losing three wickets inside the PowerPlay. With the top-three falling in quick succession, Punjab's middle-order stepped up before Ramandeep Singh and Salil Arora ensured a strong finish to take them to 192/5. In reply, Puducherry suffered an early setback as Abhishek trapped Aditya Garhwal LBW in the first over. The Punjab skipper picked up two further wickets and ended with figures of 3-23 as Puducherry slipped to 40/7 inside the PowerPlay with Ayush Goyal (3-25) also causing damage from the other end. Sidak Singh's 61 meant Tripura's innings continued to show signs of life but they never had a chance of tracking the total down after their monumental collapse.
Madhya Pradesh successfully defended a modest 154-run target against Maharashtra at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Asked to bat first, Madhya Pradesh suffered an early setback with Rajvardhan Hangargekar picking up two wickets in the third over. They were never allowed to settle thereafter as Maharashtra kept picking up wickets. As many as seven batters made it into double digits with just one, Arshad Khan, reaching 30. Tripuresh Singh ensured that Madhya Pradesh started their defence well with two early wickets. Maharashtra consolidated with a watchful 54-run partnership between Rahul Tripathi and Arshin Kulkarni but Madhya Pradesh struck back and ran through the rest of the order to ensure a 21-run win.
Odisha clinched a thrilling 1-run win against Railways at Lucknow. An action-packed final over saw Railways score 15 runs and lose three wickets to fall short by just a solitary run when the dust had settled. Chasing 170 to win, Railways lost three wickets inside the PowerPlay. Akshat Pandey's 60 off 34 kept them going with the rest of the order revolving around him. It came down to Railways needing 29 off the last two overs with Ashutosh Sharma reducing it to 17 off the final over. A six off the second ball of the last over kindled hope but Ashutosh's dismissal off the very next delivery made things harder. Atal Bihari Rai fell off the very next delivery while Kunal Yadav managed a six off his very first delivery. With four needed to win and three needed to tie off the last ball, Raj Choudhary was run-out attempting a third run. Earlier, Odisha too lost three wickets in the PowerPlay. Aasirwad Swain's 48 and Soumya Ranjan Lenka's 75 meant that they managed 169/5 from 20 overs.
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