A round-up of Monday's action in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament.
Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami celebrated his Rs 10 crore deal with SunRisers Hyderabad with a three-wicket burst that carried Bengal to an eight-wicket victory over Hyderabad in a Group A match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Rajkot on Monday.
The India pacer, playing his first white ball tournament after last year's 50-over World Cup, took three for 21 in 3.3 overs as Bengal bowled out Hyderabad for 137 in 18.3 overs.
He received good support from Karan Lal and Shahbaz Ahmed, who bagged two wickets each.
India batter Tilak Varma scored a 44-ball 57 (5x4, 1x6), but could not guide his side to a bigger total.
In reply, Bengal faced little trouble, scaling down the target in 17.5 overs.
Openers Abhishek Porel (41, 39b, 3x4 2x6) and Karan (46, 29b, 4x4, 4x6) put together 84 runs in 9.5 overs and Bengal never let the momentum slip from there.
Venkatesh Iyer, Patidar shine for MP
After attracting a Rs 23.75 crore bid from Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL mega auction, Venkatesh Iyer made a small right step while producing an all-round effort to propel Madhya Pradesh to a 101-run win over Meghalaya in another Group A match in Rajkot.
Venkatesh got the third highest bid in the auction at Jeddah after Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 crore).
He first scored a 17-ball 37 (4x6), which along with Rajat Patidar's 78 (36b, 6x4, 6x6) guided MP to 222 for 5 in 20 overs.
He then took a wicket (2-0-9-1) and Mohammed Arshad Khan took three (2.4-0-5-3) as Madhya Pradesh bundled out Meghalaya for 121 with two balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Group A (At Rajkot):
Hyderabad 137 all out in 18.3 overs (Tilak Varma 57, Mohammed Shami 3/21, Karan Lal 2/30, Shahbaz Ahmed 2/14) lost to Bengal 138/2 in 17.5 overs (Karan Lal 46, Abhishek Porel 41) by 8 wickets.
Madhya Pradesh 222/5 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 78, Venkatesh Iyer 37) beat Meghalaya 121 all out in 19.4 overs (Arshad Khan 3/5, Venkatesh Iyer 1/9) by 101 runs.
Pandya brothers shore up Baroda
Hardik Pandya (41 not out, 21b, 2x4, 3x6) and skipper Krunal Pandya (45, 35b, 3x4, 1x6), who joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 5.75 crore, played key roles as Baroda chased down a 166-run target set by Uttarakhand to notch their second successive win in Group B.
Earlier, Hardik chipped in with a wicket as well to help Baroda restrict Uttarakhand to a manageable 165 for 7.
Brief scores:
Group B (At Indore):
Uttarakhand 165/7 in 20 overs (R Samarth 42, Avneesh Sudha 38; Hardik Pandya 1/25, Lukeman Meriwalla 2/37) lost to Baroda 168/5 in 18.4 overs (Hardik Pandya 41 not out, Krunal Pandya 45; Agrim Tiwari 2/28) by 5 wickets.
Rinku Singh shines for UP
India middle-order batter Rinku Singh scored an unbeaten 24-ball 45 (4x4, 3x6) as Uttar Pradesh breezed past Himachal Pradesh's 100 in just 13.3 overs to register a seven-wicket win in a Group C match in Mumbai.
Former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (4/12 in 4 overs) and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who on Monday was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 10.75 crore in the IPL mega auction, chipped in with a wicket.
Harshal, Chahal sparkle
A blistering hundred by Nishant Sindhu (100, 48b, 11x4, 4x6) and a brisk 91 (45b, 11x4, 4x6) by Himanshu Rana powered Haryana to 255 for 2 against Arunachal Pradesh in another Group C match in Mumbai.
The Arunachal batters could not tackle the guiles of pacer Harshal Patel (4-0-12-5) and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (4-0-15-2) and were shot out for 80 as Haryana celebrated a huge 175-run win.
Chahal was a Rs 18 crore buy by the Punjab Kings while Harshal went to SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 8 crore.
Group C (At Mumbai):
Himachal Pradesh 100 all out in 18.2 overs (MJ Dagar 27; Piyush Chawla 4/12, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/20) lost to Uttar Pradesh 104/3 in 13.3 overs (Rinku Singh 45 not out, Madhav Kaushik 38 not out) by 7 wickets.
Haryana 255/2 in 20 overs (Himanshu Rana 91, Nishant Sindhu 100 not out) beat Arunachal Pradesh 80 all out in 17 overs (Harshal Patel 5/12, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/15) by 175 runs.
