Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: West Bengal rout Hyderabad

Nagpur/Kochi: Wriddhiman Saha’s brutal innings and  Mohammed Shami’s fiery spell ensured an easy 61-run win for  Bengal against Hyderabad in their opening Group ‘A’ league match in the of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament on Saturday.

Batting first, Bengal scored a healthy 185 for 4 in 20 overs courtesy Wriddhiman’s 47-ball-81. In reply, Hyderabad  were all out for 124 in 16.2 overs with Shami being the pick  of the bowlers with figures of 3/18 in 2.2 overs. He got good  assistance from the seasoned Pragyan Ojha (3/23 in 4 overs).

Bengal got four points by virtue of this win. Opening the innings, India’s Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman  hit seven boundaries and five huge sixes as he added 138 in  14.2 overs with Sayan Sekhar Mondal (50).

Wriddhiman, who has earlier opened for Bengal and Kings  XI Punjab in the shortest format, punished former India U-19  left-armer Chama Milind, hitting him over the ropes on a  number of occasion.

In reply, Shami bowling the second over of the innings  dismissed Tanmay Agarwal (0) and skipper G Hanuma Vihari (14) to set the ball rolling.

Delhi overpowers Railways
A collective effort by Delhi’s batsmen ensured that they comfortably chased down a mammoth Railways total with 4 wickets in hand in the opening Group ‘C’ match. Railways scored 210 for two in 20 overs on one of the  flattest of decks with No.3 batsman Saurabh Wakaskar scoring  118 off 55 balls with seven boundaries and 11 sixes. He added 185 runs with former RCB player Asad Pathan (85).

However Delhi chased down the target in 19.2 overs as almost all the batsmen except skipper Gautam Gambhir (10), scored runs. Opener Unmukt Chand started the chase with a 19-ball-38  with four boundaries and three sixes. Nitish Rana with a  whirlwind 34 off 15 balls that included four sixes also played  his part.

The defining partnership was between Pawan Negi (35 no  off 18 balls) and Milind Kumar (23 off 17 balls) as they added  61 runs in 4.5 overs to take the match away from Railways.

Yuvi fails, Punjab lose to Rajasthan

Veteran Yuvraj Singh failed with the  bat as minnows Rajasthan shocked Punjab by 4 wickets in a Group ‘B’ encounter. Batting first, Punjab managed a paltry 130 for six in 20 overs with Mandeep Singh smashing 76 off 52 balls with seven  fours and three sixes. Yuvraj was dismissed by a slower  delivery from Rajat Bhatia, caught by Rajesh Bisnoi.

Save Mandeep, only Gurinder Singh (29 no) crossed the  20-run mark. Bhatia again proved his skills as slow medium  pacer in this format with figures of 2/16 in 4 overs. In reply, Rajasthan were reeling at 76 for five in 14  overs but a 53 run stand between Rajesh Bishnoi (58) and  Dishant Yagnik (23 no) put them on the cusp of victory.

Bishnoi hit four boundaries and equal number of sixes in  his 32-ball innings.  Yuvraj did bowl well taking two wickets for 16 runs.

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