Haryana secured a convincing seven-wicket victory against Rajasthan, while Madhya Pradesh pulled off a four-wicket win against Andhra in the Super League phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Coming on the back of a memorable outing in the group stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where it won six of its seven games, the expectations were high from Rajasthan.
But as the Super League phase got underway on Friday, it got a reality check. Haryana fast bowlers Anshul Kamboj and Ishant Bhardwaj made full use of the early conditions at the MCA Stadium to restrict Rajasthan to 132 for 8, before Haryana captain Ankit Kumar’s gritty 41-ball-60 guided the side to a convincing seven-wicket victory.
Haryana won the toss and opted to field. The decision paid off as both Kamboj and Bhardwaj bowled stump-to-stump, and triggered a top-order collapse for Rajasthan. Opener Kunal Singh Rathore started off with a boundary, before falling to a reckless shot, as the team lost four wickets for just 29 runs inside the powerplay.
While none of the top-order batters could show resilience, the seasoned Deepak Hooda fell to a bizarre run-out. After aborting the call for a single, Hooda walked back towards the crease, and as his bat was in the air, a direct throw by Bhardwaj forced him to head back to the dugout without opening an account.
Shubham Garhwal and Mahipal Lomror chipped in with quick cameos, but Rajasthan never recovered from the early setbacks.
Chasing smaller targets could often be tricky. However, with captain Ankit leading from the front, Haryana got off to a steady start and brought up 37 runs in three overs, before Akash Singh cleaned up Aarsh Ranga.
With chief national selector Ajit Agarkar watching the proceedings, Ankit ensured that there weren’t further slip-ups and forged a 52-run partnership with Yashvardhan Dalal for the second wicket. With the surface easing out, Ankit accelerated to the finish line. His innings was crafted with eight fours and a six as he brought up his third fifty of the tournament.
Rajasthan captain Manav Suthar shuffled his bowlers frequently, but nothing worked out as Haryana romped home with 22 balls to spare.
MP wins despite Nitish’s hattrick
In the other match of the day, Madhya Pradesh managed to pull off a four-wicket win against Andhra at the DY Patil Academy ground, despite Nitish Kumar Reddy rattling the top-order with a hattrick.
After opting to field, Madhya Pradesh reduced Andhra to 7/2, with fast bowler Tripuresh Singh claiming both wickets. However, K.S. Bharat and Nitish Kumar Reddy regrouped with a 50-run stand for the third wicket before the former was caught and bowled by Venkatesh Iyer.
Mystery spinner Shivam Shukla rode on the momentum and claimed four wickets as Andhra folded up for 112 following a middle-order collapse.
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Defending a low total, Nitish had a dream start as he took a hattrick, with the wickets of Harsh Gawli, Harpreet Singh and captain Rajat Patidar. However, Rishabh Chouhan and Rahul Batham’s 73-run stand for the fifth wicket turned the tide in MP’s way. A cautious approach by Chouhan and Batham helped as the team bounced back after reeling at one stage.
