Results from final league games of Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament
Vidarbha top group beating Himachal by 27 runs
Nagpur: Vidarbha easily entered the quarter-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament beating Himachal Pradesh by 27 runs and also topping group A in the process.
Opener Jitesh Sharma scored 106 off 65 balls with 12 boundaries and three sixes as Vidarbha piled 183 for six in 20 overs.
Interestingly, the next best was Faiz Fazal with 20.
In reply, Himachal Pradesh managed only 156 in 19.5 overs. Skipper Bipul Sharma scored 58.
Off-spinner Akshay Wakhare was the most successful bowler taking 4/18. Vidarbha finished the group with 20 points from six games.
Gujarat are the second team to qualify from the group with 16 points piping Tamil Nadu (16 points) by virtue of a better Net Run Rate (+1.559 to +1.136).
Brief scores: Vidarbha 183/6 in 20 overs (Jitesh Sharma 106; Bipul Sharma 2/23) vs Himachal Pradesh 156 in 19.5 overs (Bipul Sharma 58, Akshay Wakhare 4/18).
Gujarat thrash Haryana by 9 wickets
Nagpur: Riding on a superb show by pacers RP Singh and Jasprit Bumrah Gujarat thrashed Haryana by nine wickets.
Opting to field, Gujarat bowled out Haryana for a paltry 95 as Jasprit Bumrah alongside RP Singh ran through the Haryana line up. While RP Singh registered figures of 3/16, Bumrah was even more impressive with figures of 3/10.
Chasing 96 for a win, Gujarat knocked off the winning runs in just 6.4 overs as captain Parthiv Patel (51 off 20 balls) sent Haryana bowlers on a leather hunt.
Brief scores: Haryana 95 all out (J Bumrah 3/10, RP Singh 3/16) vs Gujarat 96 in 6.4 overs (Parthiv Patel 51)
Tamil Nadu fails to qualify despite victory
Nagpur: Tamil Nadu failed to qualify for the knockout stage, despite beating Hyderabad by four wickets in a Group A match on Sunday.
Opting to bowl after winning the toss, Tamil Nadu restricted Hyderabad to 140 for eight in the stipulated 20 overs.
In reply, Tamil Nadu completed the chase with eight balls to spare at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha.
Jaweed Ali top-scored for Hyderabad with 35 off 19 balls, hitting six boundaries.
For Tamil Nadu, Murugan Ashwin picked up three wickets for 18 runs in his quota for four overs.
In batting, Dinesh Karthik was the highest scorer for Tamil Nadu with 43 off 31 balls. He hit two fours and two sixes.
Brief score: Hyderabad 140/8 in 20 overs (Jaweed Ali 35; Murugan Ashwin 3-18) vs Tamil Nadu 140/6 in 48.4 overs (D Karthik 35)
Rana sizzles again; Delhi reach quarters
Vadodara: Young Nitish Rana continued his blazing form as he pulverized Irfan Pathan-led Baroda to help Delhi win by five wickets en route their entry into quarter-final with an all-win record.
Batting first, Baroda managed a decent 153 for six in 20 overs. Australia bound T20 specialist Hardik Pandya warmed up nicely with an unbeaten 51-ball-81 that had five boundaries and six sixes.
Left-arm spinners Manan Sharma bowled well to grab 4/17 in four overs.
In reply, Delhi finished the match with three balls to spare riding on left-hander Rana's 29-ball-53 that had three boundaries and five sixes.
Opener Unmukt Chand's 29-ball-38 and Milind Kumar's unbeaten 29 off 24 balls also proved to be significant contribution in the final context of the match.
Gautam Gambhir's pathetic show in the tournament continued as he got 9 off 15 balls.
Rana blasted Baroda captain Irfan, who went for no less than 36 runs in four overs.
Delhi thus finished the group league engagements with full 24 points from six games while Baroda despite the loss made it to the last eight with 20 points.
For the 22-year-old Rana, this has been a great tournament so far as his sequence of scores will suggest: 34 from 15 balls, 97 from 40 balls, 28 from 15 balls and now 53 off 29 balls.
The only failure (5) came against Goa and he did not bat against Assam.
Brief scores: Baroda 153/6 (Hardik Pandya 81 no, Manan Sharma 4/17) vs Delhi 156/5 (Nitish Rana 53, Unmukt Chand 38).
Jharkhand advance after win over Kerala
Kochi: Jharkhand defeated Kerala by six wickets to qualify for the knockout stage.
Opting to field in the Group B match, Jharkhand restricted Kerala to 169 for six in the stipulated 20 overs at St Paul's College Ground.
In reply, Jharkhand chased down the target in exactly 19 overs, reaching 174 with four wickets to spare.
Ishank Jaggi top-scored for Jharkhand with 45 off 32 balls, while Kaushal Singh slammed 33 off just 18 balls with the help of three boundaries and two sixes to guide the side home.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was the most successful bowler for Jharkhand, returning impressive figures of three for 31 in his quota of four overs.
With the result going in favour of Jharkhand, Kerala opener Sanju Samson's stroke-filled 87 off 53 balls, with nine boundaries and four sixes, went in vain.
Rohan Prem (47 off 31 balls) was the other substantial contributor for Kerala.
Despite the defeat, Kerala, too, progressed with five wins in six outings, as many as Jharkhand.
Brief score: Kerala 169/6 (S Samson 87; S Nadeem 3/31) vs Jharkhand 174/4 in 19 overs (I Jaggi 45, Kaushal Singh 33)
MP beat Assam by five wickets
Vadodara: Madhya Pradesh defeated Assam by five wickets to record their fourth win from six outings, while Assam are already out of the tournament having registered just two victories from as many matches.
Electing to field, Madhya Pradesh restricted Assam to 138 for six in the stipulated 20 overs, and then chased down the target in 19.4 overs.
Harpreet Singh top-scored for Madhya Pradesh with an unbeaten 63 off 49 balls, hitting four boundaries and a six in the process.
Singh was well supported by Venkatesh Iyer, who remained not out on 44 off just 24 balls. Iyer smashed five sixes and a four.
Brief score: Assam 138/6 vs Madhya Pradesh (Harpreet Singh 63 not out)
Rajasthan romp past J&K
Kochi: Rajashthan defeated Jammu and Kashmir by 45 runs in a dead rubber.
Siddharth Dobal (71) and Ankit Lamba (54) fired Rajasthan to 174 for 5 before their bowlers restricted J&K to 129 for 7 in 20 overs.
Both teams failed to reach the quarterfinals. Rajasthan ended their sorry campaign with a solitary win in six games while J&K failed to win a single match.
Brief scores: Rajasthan 174/5 in 20 overs (Siddharth Dobal 71, Ankit Lamba; Omar Alam 2/25) vs J&K 129/7 in 20 overs (Mithun Manhas 36, Ian Dev Singh 35; Nathu Singh 3/18).
