Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Karnataka beat Uttarakhand for record 15th consecutive T20 win; Tamil Nadu thump Kerala

Visakhaptnam: Karnataka won their 15th T20 match on the trot for an Indian record when they humbled Uttarakhand by nine wickets in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group A match, on Friday. Opener Rohan Kadam and Devdutt Padikkal struck unbeaten half centuries to set up Karnataka’s victory while chasing a 133-run target. [caption id=“attachment_4375939” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Getty Images[/caption] Kadam’s 67 not out came from 55 balls and was studded with six boundaries and three sixes while Padikkal needed 33 deliveries for his unbeaten 53. The duo stitched 108 runs for the unconquered second wicket to take Karnataka home in 15.4 overs after the other opener Ravikumar Samarth was out for seven off Pradeep Chamoli. Earlier, electing to bat first, Uttarakhand could only score 132 for six in their allotted 20 overs with captain Tanmay Srivastava top-scoring with 39. The win saw Karnataka not only create an Indian record for most T20 wins in a row (15 wins), but also moved to second spot in the overall world list, joint with Otago of New Zealand. Sialkot Stallions had won 25 games on the trot in Pakistan’s National T20 Cup between 2006 and 2010. In other Group A matches, Goa beat Baroda by four wickets at the same ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here while Andhra Pradesh crushed Bihar by 10 wickets at Vizianagaram. Tamil Nadu beat Kerala Pace bowlers T Natarajan and debutant G Periyaswamy scalped three wickets each as Tamil Nadu beat Kerala by 37 runs in the opening group ‘B’ match. Sent into bat, the visitors made 174 for 5 in 20 overs thanks to a late assault by M Mohammed (34, 11 balls, 3 fours, 3 sixes) and restricted Kerala to 137 for 8 in its quota of overs. After early loss of the experienced Murali Vijay (1) and N Jagadeesan (8) to Basil Thampi and K M Asif respectively, in-form Baba Aparajith (35) and skipper Dinesh Karthik (33) staged a recovery while Vijay Shankar (25) and Shahrukh Khan (28) too made useful contributions. However, Tamil Nadu appeared to be heading to a moderate total before Mohammed launched a stunning assault in the final stages, hitting 3 boundaries and an equal number of sixes to take the team to 174. Kerala began the chase well despite losing captain Robin Uthappa (9) in the 4th over as Vishnu Vinod (24) and Rohan Kunnummal (34) built a steady partnership. But, the Tamil Nadu bowlers stuck to their task and kept picking up wickets to stymie the host team’s progress. Natarajan got the crucial wicket of Sachin Baby (32, 32b, 2x4) after Periyaswamy scalped Uthappa. The Kerala lower-order couldn’t withstand the pressure and the team went down by 37 runs. Punjab lose to Hyderabad Shubman Gill’s 48 off 42 balls was not enough as Punjab suffered a narrow two-run defeat against Hyderabad under VJD method in a rain-truncated T20 match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Friday. Opting to bowl in the Group C match, Punjab restricted Hyderabad to 149 for 7 from 20 overs with Akshath Reddy top-scoring with 47 off just 27 balls. For Punjab, Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul grabbed three wickets each for 11 and 44 runs respectively. Punjab’s target was reworked to 100 from 14 overs due to rains under VJD method but in the end they could only score 97 for 4 to lose the match by two runs. In other Group C matches, Chhattisgarh beat Arunachal Pradesh by 9 wickets after the match was reduced to six-over-a-side affair due to rains, while Maharashtra recorded an eight-run victory over Railways. Hosts Chandigarh also notched up a nine-run win over Himachal Pradesh under VJD Method in another rain affected Group C match. Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 174 for 5 in 20 overs (B Aparajith 35, M Mohammed 34 not out, Dinesh Karthik 33, M Shahrukh Khan 28, Basil Thampi 3/49) beat Kerala 137 for 8 in 20 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 34, Sachin Baby 32, T Natarajan 3/25, G Periyaswamy 3/36). TN: 4 points, Kerala: Nil. Tripura 102 for 8 in 20 overs (Saurabh Das 30, Darshan Nalkande 3/25) lost to Vidarbha 103 for 1 in 12.3 overs (Faiz Fazal 54, Akshay Kolhar 45 not out). Vidarbha: 4 points, Tripura: Nil. Rajasthan 171 for 4 in 2 overs (Mannendra Narendra Singh 77, Ankit Lamba 49, Mahipal Lomror 25 not out, Abdul Karim 3/33) beat Manipur 74 for 9 in 20 overs (Priyojit Singh Gourmohon Kangabam 55 not out, Tanveer Ul Haq 4/7). Rajasthan: 4 points, Manipur: Nil.