Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Harshal Patel stars as Haryana beat Meghalaya by 99 runs; Delhi qualify for Super League with 20-run win over Odisha

Mumbai: Powered by an all-round show by Harshal Patel, Haryana ended their league stage campaign on a high with a 99-run win against Meghalaya in a Group D match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Monday. Haryana have already made it to the Super League stage of the national T20 tournament, which begins in Surat on 21 November. [caption id=“attachment_7669581” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Harshal Patel plays for Delhi Capitals in the IPL. SPORTZPICS for BCCI[/caption] Mumbai, who lost only one game in the league phase, have also booked their place in the Super League stage. Put into bat at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in the suburbs, Haryana rode on a quickfire 82 off 40 balls by opener Patel to amass a competitive 202/6 despite losing two early wickets of Himanshura and in-form Chaitanya Bishnoi. While wickets were tumbling at the other end, Patel held the fort at one end and toyed with a pedestrian bowling attack of Meghalaya, hammering five fours and seven sixes during his stay at the crease. A quick-fire unbeaten 31 not out by Rahul Tewatia helped Haryana cross the 200-run mark. The chase was an uphill task for Meghalaya, who struggled to get going and were restricted to 103/9. Patel, a right-arm medium pacer, then shone with the ball to return with fine figures of 3/22. Meanwhile, in an inconsequential Group D game, Madhya Pradesh bowlers held their nerves to eke out a thrilling five-run victory against Pondicherry at the Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai. Brief scores: At BKC: Haryana 202-6 in 20 overs (Harshal Patel 82, Rahul Tewatia not out 31; Sanjay Yadav 2-24, Amiangshu Sen 2- 19) beat Meghalaya 103-9 (Abhay Negi 25, Sanjay Yadav 21, Ravi Teja 21; Harshal Patel 3-22) by 99 runs. Haryana 4 points, Meghalaya 0 points. At Wankhede: Madhya Pradesh 177/6 (Ashutosh Sharma 84, Venkatesh Iyer 35; R Vinay Kumar 4/30) beat Pondicherry 172/5 (B Arun Karthik 60, Paras Dogra 41; Rahul Batham 2/24) by five runs. MP 4 points, Pondicherry 0 points. Delhi qualify for Super League with win over Odisha All-rounder Lalit Yadav claimed three wickets with his off-breaks as Delhi notched up a comprehensive 20-run win over Odisha in their final Group E match to qualify for the Super League. Electing to bat, Delhi posted 149 for six and then returned to dismiss Odisha for 129 in 18.1 overs to complete the win and top Group E with 22 points from seven matches.

Going through a rough patch, Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with a 33-ball 35 which comprised three fours and a six. However, his struggle was apparent against an unfancied Odisha attack. He failed to get going.

Earlier, Delhi batsmen, including opener Hiten Dalal (20) and first-down Dhruv Shorey (26), got starts but none could convert them into big scores but they did enough to help the team post a decent score on board. For Odisha, Abhishek Raut (2/21) took two wickets, while Govinda Poddar (1/18), Suryakant Pradhan (1/31), Pappu Roy (1/35) and Subham Nayak (1/29) accounted for one wicket each. Defending the total, Yadav returned with impressive figures of 3.1-1-10-3 and he was ably supported by Pawan Negi (2/38) and Nitish Rana (2/6) as the trio derailed Odisha’s chase. Odisha had a disastrous start and were looking down the barrel at 36 for 5 in 7.2 overs. Down the order, Suryakant Pradhan smashed a 20-ball 48 laced with six hits to the fence but it was not enough. In another Group E match, Chintan Gaja (4/15) snapped four wickets before Kshitij Patel blasted a 36-ball 44 as Gujarat thrashed Jammu and Kashmir by 8 wickets. Sent to bat, Jammu and Kashmir folded for a paltry 101 in 18.3 overs, thanks to Gaja and Hardik Patel (3/17), who shared seven wickets between them. Piyush Chawla (2/19) and Axar Patel (1/23) also contributed with the ball. Chasing the total, Kshitij top-scored with an unbeaten 44 off 36 balls, while Chirag Gandhi (32) and Urvil Patel (22) chipped in with useful contributions as Gujarat scored 102 for 2 in 13.3 overs. Brief Score: Delhi 149 for 6 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 35; Abhishek Raut 2/21) beat Odisha 129 all out in 18.1 overs (Suryakant Pradhan 48; Lalit Yadav 3/10). Jammu and Kashmir 101 all out in 18.3 overs (A Samad 27; CT Gaja 4/15) lost by 8 wickets to Gujarat 102 for 2 in 13.3 overs (K Patel 44; R Dayal 1/15).