Kushagra's 84 powers Jharkhand to sixth consecutive win
Jharkhand continued their unbeaten run in the competition beating Tamil Nadu by 28 runs in Ahmedabad, their sixth win in a row. Kumar Kushagra's unbeaten 84 off 48 and Virat Singh's 72 off 39 took Jharkhand to a mammoth 207 for 3 in their 20 overs. It was a massive 120-run partnership between the two players in just 10.4 overs. This was after Ishan Kishan departed for just two. Anukul Roy then played a cameo of 25 off 16 and along with Kushagra took the team over the 200-run mark.
In response, Tamil Nadu got off to a rollicking start through Sai Sudharsan (64) and Tushar Raheja (27) in a quick 64-run stand in the PowerPlay but the latter fell in the last over of the PowerPlay. This slowed down Tamil Nadu's momentum as Bal Krishna and Anukul choked the batters and picked up regular wickets. They lost regular wickets slumping from 116 for 1 to 145 for 5 before eventually ending on 179 for 7.
Arshad Khan picked up a six-wicket haul against Chandigarh and ended with figures of 4-1-9-6 as Madhya Pradesh decimated Chandigarh in Kolkata with six overs and seven wickets to spare. He picked up a wicket off his first ball and tore through Chandigarh's top and middle-order. Manan Vohra was the only Chandigarh batter to offer any resistance with 52(43) as they could muster only 134/8. In reply, Harsh Gawali (74*) and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (48) put on a 95-run stand to seal a comfortable win.
A tough day in the office for Assam who lost by 74 runs to Odisha. A 91-run stand in the first innings between Aasirwad Swain (51*) and Biplab Samantaray (43) took Odisha to 171 for 4. A collective bowling performance from Odisha then saw Assam bowled out for 98. Riyan Parag mustered only 14 off 19 with the bat.
In Hyderabad, Puducherry stunned Bengal in an emphatic rout of 81 runs. Aman Khan's 40-ball 74 which consisted of seven sixes and five fours took Puducherry to 177 for 5. Mohammed Shami was the star of the bowlers for Bengal picking up 3 for 34. Only the top-three for Bengal reached double-digit figures as spinners Jayant Yadav (4 for 28) and Sidak Singh (3 for 9) combined to wreak havoc against Bengal.
Saurashtra emerged victorious by the narrowest of margins - one run - against Karnataka. Forties from Siddhant Rana (42) and Vishvaraj Jadeja (40) took Saurashtra to 178 for 8 while Vyshak Vijaykumar picked up 3 for 28 in his four overs quota. In reply, Karnataka lost their openers cheaply but Devdutt Padikkal scored 66 off 46 to bring them back into the contest. Smaran Ravichandran scored 30 but fell at a crucial time. In the end, the onus fell on the tail who couldn't quite get Karnataka over the line. Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya and Prerak Mankad collectively picked up a brace of wickets to restrict Karnataka to 177 for 9.
In another nail-biter of a contest, Gujarat emerged victorious by one wicket off the last ball. After being 26/3 at one stage, HP captain Mridul Surroch (88) put on a 63-run stand with opener Innesh Mahajan (44) before putting on an even bigger stand with Akash Vasisht (49) of 87 runs in just 43 balls as HP got to 193 for 8 in their 20 overs. In reply, Urvil Patel scored 39 off 11 for Gujarat with five monstrous sixes. Aarya Desai and Saurav Chauhan scored 37 and 35 respectively as significant contributions before Harshal Patel hit the winning runs. Surroch picked up 3 for 45 in a brilliant all-round show but it eventually went in vain.
Mumbai swatted aside Chhattisgarh in all departments in Lucknow. Shardul Thakur picked up 3 for 19 in his spell while Tushar Desphande, Atharva Ankolekar and Suryansh Shedge all picked up a brace of wickets to restrict the opposition to 121. Ayush Mhatre then scored an unbeaten 69 off 49 balls with three fours and five sixes to comfortably take Mumbai to victory with 4.1 overs and eight wickets to spare.
Through skipper Suyash Prabhudessai's unbeaten 51* and Kashyap Bakhale's 59, Goa chased down the target of 162 in 19 overs with seven wickets to spare. Earlier, Yawer Hassan (48) and Shubham Tari (45) took Jammu and Kashmir to 161 for 6 with Abdul Samad chipping in with 22 off nine balls. Shubham Tari was the pick of the bowlers in the game taking figures of 3 for 30.
Hyderabad claimed an easy seven-wicket win over Bihar at Kolkata after successfully chasing 133. After opting to bat first, Bihar lost both openers inside the PowerPlay. A 44-run partnership between Piyush Singh and Ayush Loharuka kept them in good stead for a competitive total but a middle order collapse meant that they finished with only 132/8 in 20 overs. Hyderabad were led by Tanmay Agarwal's 42-ball 67 as they completed the chase fuss-free and in just 12.5 overs.
Rajasthan completed a thrilling last-ball chase, scoring 26 in the final over to successfully hunt down Delhi's 176-run target at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Walking in the 15th over with Rajasthan still needing 69 to win, Mukul Choudhary smashed a whirlwind 26-ball 62, including a six off the final delivery to seal an unlikely win for his side. Navdeep Saini's impressive spell of 3-15 went in vain as Ayush Badoni failed to defend 25 runs in the final over. Earlier, Delhi posted 175/5 with four of their top five scoring 30s. Manav Suthar was the pick of the Rajasthan bowlers with figures of 2-18 from four overs.
Anshul Kamboj's Player of the Match worthy spell of 4-23 helped Haryana successfully defend 175 against Baroda at Hyderabad. Yashvardhan Dalal's unbeaten 57 and Parth Vats' 41 meant that Haryana posted a competitive 174/7 in 20 overs. In reply, Vishnu Solanki got Baroda off to a quick start but they lost both openers inside the PowerPlay. Atit Sheth shared two vital partnerships, first a 37-run stand with Shivalik Sharma and then a 48-run stand with Jitesh Sharma. However, his efforts proved insufficient as Anshul Kamboj broke the spine of their batting order with crucial strikes towards the death, including both Atit and Jitesh in the same over. Baroda finished with 166/7 - eight runs short of the target.
Andhra cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Kerala at Lucknow after chasing a paltry 120-run target. A one-man effort from Sanju Samson, which saw him remain unbeaten on 73 off 56, proved insufficient in helping his team post a competitive score with only one other batter getting into double figures. Srikar Bharat gave his team a swift start and top scored with 53 off just 28 balls as Andhra reached the target in just 12 overs.
Maharashtra edged past Uttar Pradesh in a low scoring affair at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Opting to bat first, Uttar Pradesh were reduced to 19/3 inside the PowerPlay before slipping to 38/4 in the 10th over. Rinku Singh provided crucial impetus through the middle with his 29-ball 45 and was assisted by Sameer Rizvi and Prashant Veer. Regular fall of wickets, however, meant that they only limped to 130/9 after 20 overs with Rajvardhan Hangargeker registering impressive figures of 3-10. In reply, Maharashtra started strongly with the openers stitching a 53-run stand. Prithvi Shaw's run-out in the eighth over opened the doors for a little collapse as they slipped to 82/4. They then lost three more wickets in a hurry, going from 114/4 to 117/7 before Vicky Ostwal and Tanay Sanghvi got them across the line in the 19th over. Kartik Tyagi was the pick of the Uttar Pradesh bowlers with figures of 3-34.
Punjab registered a comprehensive 73-run win over Services with captain Abhishek Sharma, who went past 100 sixes in T20s in the calendar year, starring in an all-round capacity once more. Asked to bat first, Punjab openers Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh shared a destructive 106-run stand with both going on to make fifties. Anmolpreet Singh (34) ensured they kept going while Naman Dhir (54) added the finishing touches as Punjab posted a mammoth 233/6. In reply, Services were dented early and lost four wickets inside the PowerPlay despite scoring quickly. The theme continued as they kept losing wickets before eventually being bowled out for 160 in 19.4 overs. Abhishek Sharma picked up two wickets in addition to his 62 runs with the bat.
Uttarakhand prevailed over Tripura by four-wickets in a thriller that went down to the last ball at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After opting to bat first, Tripura's openers got them off to a brisk start and shared a 60-run partnership. A fifty from Tejasvi Jaiswal and a late 9-ball 20-run blitz from Swapnil Singh lifted their total to 163/6 in 20 overs. In pursuit, a 59-run stand between Kunal Chandela and Bhupen Lalwani kept Uttarakhand going after they lost both openers. Tripura struck back with wickets and it came down to Uttarakhand needing 25 runs off the last two overs. Jagadeesha Suchith went berserk as they managed 19 runs off the 19th over before Aarav Mahajan, facing his first ball, hit a boundary off the last ball of the 20th to secure a win.
Ravi Singh's 38-ball 68 ensured Railways successfully hunted down Vidarbha's 173-run target with five wickets and five balls to spare at Lucknow. Asked to bat first, Vidarbha posted a sizeable 172/5 with opener Adhyayan Daga (55) and Dhruv (68*) hitting fifties. In pursuit, Railways lost Suraj Ahuja off the second ball of the innings but a 49-run stand between Kush Marathe and Shivam Chaudhary kept them on track. Ravi Singh and Ashutosh Sharma were explosive through the middle and shared a 63-run stand that came off just 26 balls as they steered their side towards victory.
