New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) Fast bowler Saurabh Dubey’s four-wicket haul set up a comfortable seven-wicket win for Vidarbha over Goa on Day One of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, while Tamil Nadu squeezed past Railways by six runs in a tense finish to a thrilling game.
Vidarbha skipper Atharva Taide won the toss at the Jadavpur University Campus Ground 2 in Kolkata and chose to field, and his bowlers backed the call. Goa could only post 146/9 in their 20 overs, with Deepraj Gaonkar’s 39 the top score. Dubey returned with 4-30 and was duly named Player of the Match.
Vidarbha lost opener Danish Malewar early in reply, but Taide and R. Samarth then took charge. The pair added 114 runs for the second wicket, Taide making 52 and Samarth 53, which took the contest away from Goa. Vedant Jajoo (23 not out) and Yash Kadam (nine not out) completed the chase in 17.3 overs.
Elsewhere, Tamil Nadu had to work much harder to get their first win of the competition. Shahrukh Khan’s unbeaten 46 off 30 balls and a 13-ball 31 from Rajkumar Ravichandran lifted them to 172/7 after being pushed into batting first. Ravichandran’s quickfire cameo, at a strike rate of 200, gave the innings a valuable push.
Railways looked dead and buried at 79/6, with Varun Chakaravarthy conceding just five runs in two overs and picking up two wickets. Zuber Ali (46 off 37 balls) and Toufik Mondal (57 off 22 balls) then produced a stunning seventh-wicket partnership of 69 runs off 31 balls that kept Railways in the hunt.
Though Mondal was dismissed in the 15th over, tension rose further with Ali and Kunal at the crease. With 19 runs needed from three overs, Railways looked set to win until Gurjapneet Singh kept his cool by defending 11 runs in the final over as Tamil Nadu sealed a hard-fought victory.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh won over Assam by 16 runs (via VJD Method). Mridul Surroch’s 52 carried Himachal Pradesh to 176/6 in 20 overs. Assam had reached 119/6 in 15 overs before inclement weather got the game in Himachal Pradesh’s favour.
Elsewhere, Rajasthan secured a six-wicket win over Uttar Pradesh. Sameer Rizvi’s 74 not out off 35 balls carried Uttar Pradesh to 171/6 in 20 overs. In reply, Rajasthan completed the chase in 15.4 overs, thanks to Abhijeet Tomar’s 63 and 48 from Rohan Rajbhar.
–IANS
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