Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Jammu and Kashmir shock Delhi to win by eight wicket; Mumbai trump Bengal

Shikhar Dhawan failed to score in his first game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy as Delhi suffered an shock eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Jammu and Kashmir for their first loss of the tournament. Nitish Rana took Delhi to 165 for seven with 55 off 30 balls, a quickfire innings that included half a dozen sixes. This was after Delhi decided to bat at the Patel International Stadium. [caption id=“attachment_7636201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] Jammu and Kashmir made short of the 166-run target, racing to victory in 15.5 overs with eight wickets in hand. The flying start to the chase was provided by openers Shubham Khajuria (49 off 22) and Jatin Wadhawan (48 not out off 33) before Manzoor Dar smashed 58 off 24 balls. It was the first loss for Delhi and first victory for Jammu and Kashmir. Dar was picked up by IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab ahead of the 2018 edition but did not get a game. The franchise eventually released him. With a blistering knock on Thursday, he is certain to attract some attention ahead of the IPL auctions next month. It was not an ideal start to the tournament for India opener Dhawan, who is not in the best of form. His stay in the middle lasted nine balls. In another Group E game, Gujarat thrashed Sikkim by nine wickets. Rajasthan beats UP; TN, Kerala post wins  Medium-pacer Deepak Chahar (3 for 46 and 13 not out) starred in Rajasthan’s five-wicket win over Uttar Pradesh in a Group ‘B’ match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament here on Thursday. The right-arm seam bowler, who has been in superb form of late, having bagged a hat-trick in the India versus Bangladesh T20 international on Sunday last and taking four wickets in an over in the previous match against Vidarbha, took three wickets in four balls to help restrict UP to 164 for 9 today. Rajasthan rode on Rajesh K Bishnoi’s unbeaten 87 to secure a five-wicket win in 17.2 overs. Sent into bat by Rajasthan, the UP team’s cause was helped by Rinku Singh’s quickfire 50 from 29 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes), which helped it recover from a poor start. Left-arm medium-pacer Khaleel Ahmed, who was also part of the India team which beat Bangladesh in the recent T20 series, rattled UP early with two wickets including that of Akshdeep Nath. Deepak Chahar, bowling the 20th and final over, had Moshin Khan caught by CP Singh from the first ball. After conceding a single from the next ball, he scalped Shanu Rajeshwar Prakash Saini off the 3rd ball and dismissed Shubham Sanjay Chaubey the next ball. He finished with 3 for 46 while Khaleel had figures of 3 for 34. In the chase, Rajasthan lost Manendra Singh (5) early but Bishnoi who smashed 8 fours and 6 sixes in 43 balls, took charge and was involved in useful partnerships with Ankit Lamba (11) and skipper Mahipal Lomror (18) and took the team home. In another game, Tamil Nadu made short work of minnows Manipur, winning by nine wickets. Three-wicket hauls by left-arm pacer T Natarajan and leggie M Ashwin helped Tamil Nadu bundle out Manipur for 55 in 18.4 overs. Murali Vijay hit three fours and three sixes in his 14-ball 33 before being run-out as Tamil Nadu reached the target in 4.1 overs. Host Kerala posted a 26-run win over Vidarbha as skipper Robin Uthappa led the way with a blistering 69 (39 balls, 2 fours, 5 sixes). Vidarbha leads the points table with 16 points (4 wins) despite the defeat with Tamil Nadu (12 pts) and Kerala (12 pts) in pursuit. Brief scores: Kerala 162 for 7 in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 69 not out (39 balls, 2X4, 5X6), Sachin Baby 39, Darshan Nalkande 3/34) beat Vidarbha 136 for 7 in 20 overs (Akshay Wadkar 29, AK Karnewar 28 not out, Sandeep Warrier 3/29). Kerala: 4 points, Vidarbha: 0. Uttar Pradesh 164 for 9 in 20 overs (Rinku Singh 50, Saurabh Kumar 33, Khaleel Ahmed 3/34, Deepak Chahar 3/46) lost to Rajasthan 166 for 5 in 17.2 overs (Rajesh K Bishnoi 87 not out, Moshin Khan 2/28). Rajasthan: 4 points, UP: 0. Manipur 55 all out in 18.4 overs (T Natarajan 3/7, M Ashwin 3/8) lost to Tamil Nadu 5 Ranjane shines as Mumbai stun Bengal by three wickets All-rounder Shubham Ranjane shone with both the bat and ball, as his unbeaten 30 helped Mumbai defeat Bengal by three wickets in a last ball thriller of the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament here on Thursday. Chasing a modest 154-run target, Mumbai were teetering at 105/5 at a stage. And then thanks to Ranjane’s heroics with the bat, Mumbai chased the target on the final ball to remain unbeaten. This was Mumbai’s fifth win and they are on top of the points table in Group D and have almost sealed their place in the knockout stage. The hosts needed four runs to win of the final ball and Ranjane (30 not out off 17 balls, 5x4) reversed sweep a full toss to the third man boundary, as celebrations began in the Mumbai camp. Mumbai opener Jay Bista (48 off 41 balls; 5x4 and 1x6) and Aditya Tare (37 off 27 balls) added 78 for the first wicket before the team’s middle order collapsed. Shreyas Iyer (15), Siddhesh Lad (0) and Shivam Dube (0) fell in quick sussession after Bista departed as Mumbai slumped to 105-5 from 102-2. Then Ranjane did the rescue act in company of skipper Suryakumar Yadav (22 of 18 balls), as the two took the hosts near the target. However, Surya fell with three balls to left, putting the onus on Ranjane, who finished the match in style. Earlier, invited to bat, Bengal failed to capitalise on the start provided by openers Vivek Singh (56 off 45 balls) and Shreevats Goswami (43 off 28 balls) to post a below-par 153/4 on the board. Singh and Goswami took on an experienced Mumbai attack to put up 67 runs for the first wicket. But as they were poised for a big score, pacer Dhawal Kulkarni removed Goswami. Then Ranjane inflicted the damage and his wickets included Singh, Abhimanyu Easwaran (4) and Manoj Tiwari (12) to peg back the visitors. In the first match at Bandra Kurla Complex, Haryana defeated Pondicherry by six wickets, while in the second game at the same venue, Assam thrashed minnows Mizoram by nine wickets. In the second game at Wankhede, Madhya Pradesh got better of Meghalaya by 85 runs. Brief Scores: Bengal 153/4 (Vivek Singh 56, Shreevats Goswami 43; Shubham Ranjane 3-17) lost to Mumbai 154/7 (Jay Bista 48, Aditya Tare 37, Shubham Ranjane 30 not out; Shahbaz Ahamad 2-25) by three wickets. At Wankhede: Madhya Pradesh 244/4 (Rajat Patidar 68 not out, Ashutosh Sharma 60, Naman Ojha 56; Amiangshu Sen 1- 16) beat Meghalaya 159/9 (Puneet Bisht 44, Sanjay Yadav 27; Saransh Jain 3-43) by 85 runs. At BKC: Pondicherry 114 all out (Anand Subramanyan 22, Fabid Ahmed 20; Harshal Patel 3-14, Ashish Goods 3-22) lost to Haryana 115/4 (Guntashveer Singh 37, Chaityan Bishnoi 33; Fabid Ahmed 2-8) by six wickets. At BKC:Mizoram 66 all out (Taruwar Kohli 25, Lal Zela 12; Abu Nechim 3-3) lost to Assam 70/1 (Pallav Kumar Das 37, Sarupam Purkayastha 27 not out; Su Mit Lama 1-11) by nine wickets.