Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Shahbaz Ahmed's heroics fire Bengal to 43-run win against TN; Odisha stun Chandigarh

Lucknow: Shahbaz Ahmed produced a brilliant all-round performance to power Bengal to a dominating 43-run win over Tamil Nadu in their Elite Group E match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Sunday. The 27-year-old from Haryana led Bengal’s aggressive batting display with an unbeaten 27-ball 42 laced with three fours and two maximums to take the team to 164 for six after opting to bat. He then returned to scalp three crucial wickets with his left-arm spin to completely derail Tamil Nadu’s run chase as they ended with 121 for 9 in their stipulated 20 overs. Shahbaz’s pyrotechnics helped Bengal finish with a flourish after skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (38), Sudip Gharami (27) and Ritwik Chowdhury (32) set it up with useful knocks. Washington Sundar (2/24) took two wickets, while Sai Kishore (1/20), T Natarajan (1/26) and Varun Chakaravarthy (1/39) grabbed one each. Chasing 165 for a win, TN opener Sai Sudharsan blasted a 48-ball 64 with four boundaries and two sixes but did not get any support from the other end. Shahbaz was in the thick of things right from the start as opener N Jagadeesan holed out to him off Akash Deep in the second over and then the spinner stuck twin blows in three balls to reduce TN to 50 for 3 in the ninth over. He dismissed Baba Aparajith (16) and Sanjay Yadav (0) before getting rid off Washing Sundar (4) as TN’s batting fell apart after that. Besides Shahbaz, Mukesh Kumar (2/33), Pradipta Pramanik (2/13), Writtick Chatterjee (1/19) and Akash Deep (1/28) were the other wicket-takers. In another match, Odisha pulled off a one-wicket win over Chandigarh in a last-ball thriller, riding on Rakesh Pattnaik’s unbeaten 61 off 24 balls. Sent in to bat, Chandigarh posted 179 for 6 with Bhagmender Lather making 59 off 41 balls with seven maximums and Raj Bawa slamming 40 off 17 balls. In reply, Odisha were down 5 for 2 but they recovered from the disastrous start with Shantanu Mishra (39) and Subhranshu Senapati (47) playing a big role in keeping them in the hunt. Pattnaik then smashed seven boundaries and four sixes to take Odisha home in the last ball. For Chandigarh, Jagjit Singh snapped four wickets. Brief Scores Bengal: 164 for 6 in 20 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 42 not out; Washington Sundar 2/24). TN: 121 for 9 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 64; Shahbaz Ahmed 3/13). Bengal won by 43 runs. Points: Bengal 4, TN 0. Chandigarh: 179 for 6 in 20 overs (Bhagmender Lather 59; Tarani Sa 2/25, A Raut 2/29). Odisha: 181 for 9 in 20 overs (Rakesh Pattnaik 61, Subhranshu Senapati 47; Jagjit Singh 4/29). Odisha won by one wicket. Points: Odisha 4, Chandigarh 0. Shivam Dube’s all-round show takes Mumbai closer to knock-out stages Rajkot: Prithvi Shaw had a rare off day but Shivam Dube joined the party as his all-round show ensured a 15-run victory for Mumbai over Vidarbha in a group A match. Batting first, Mumbai scored 155 for eight in 20 overs with Dubey’s 41 off 40 balls and Sarfaraz Khan’s 26 off 20 balls enabling the tournament favourites to cross the 150-run mark. In reply, Vidarbha were restricted to 140 for six with in-form left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (3/21 in 4 overs) and Dube (2/20 in 3 overs) choking the run flow. Earlier, Shaw (19 off 13 balls), who had blazed his way to 134 off 61 balls in the last game, had smashed three fours and a six before being castled by India international Umesh Yadav (2/38). However, it was left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate (3/28) who put the brakes in the middle overs, and even a big hitter like Dube had to play the waiting game. While chasing, Vidarbha were pegged back in the powerplay and found themselves tottering at 50 for four in the ninth over as their T20 specialist big-hitter Jitesh Sharma had given a catch to keeper Hardik Tamore off Dube. The lower middle-order did try its bit, but by then, Mumbai had surged way ahead. They lead the group A points table with 16 from four games and need to win just two of their next three games to ensure a direct entry into the quarter-finals. Brief Scores Mumbai 155/8 (Shivam Dube 41, Prithvi Shaw 19, Aditya Sarwate 3/28, Umesh yadav 2/38). Vidarbha 140/6 (Akshay Karnewar 27, Shams Mulani 3/21, Shivam Dube 2/21). Mumbai won by 15 runs. Mizoram 115/9 (Taruwar Kohli 75, Mrinmoy Datta 2/10). Assam 118/3 (Riyan Parag 52 not out). Assam won by 7 wickets. MP 190/5 (Rajat Patidar 92 not out off 43 balls, Susheel Kumar 2/35). Railways 176/9 (Pratham Singh 55, Ashwin Das 3/35). MP won by 14 runs. Rajasthan 143/6 (Salman Khan 47, Swapnil 2/23) Uttarakhand 147/6 (Adirya Tare 34 off 28 balls). Uttrakhand won by 4 wickets. Combined effort helps Saurashtra to victory over Gujarat Indore: Saurashtra’s combined effort trumped Chirag Gandhi’s individual brilliance as they got the better of Gujarat by three wickets in Group D. Batting first, Gujarat made 162 for seven in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Saurashtra completed the task with exactly an over to spare. Gandhi top-scored for Gujarat with a blazing 63 off a mere 23 balls, striking six boundaries and four sixes in his whirlwind knock. Opener Urvil Patel contributed 40 off 32 balls, hitting six boundaries to help his team get off to a good start alongside skipper Priyank Panchal (16). However, Panchal was the first man out when the experienced Jaydev Unadkat had the batter caught behind by his counterpart Sheldon Jackson. Yuvraj Chudasama was the most impressive bowler for Saurashtra, returning with figures of There was also two wickets for Unadkat, who conceded 37 runs in his four overs. In reply, Tarang Gohel blazed away to 19 in 11 balls before being dismissed by Vishal Jayswal. But India’s number three batter in Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara carried on to make 38 off 27 balls while forging useful partnerships with Samarth Vyas (33) and captain Jackson (15). Parth Chauhan struck 25 in 16 balls before Jay Gohil (19 off 14 balls) helped Saurashtra cross the line. Brief scores Gujarat 162/7 in 20 overs (Chirag Gandhi 63, Urvil Patel 40; Yuvraj Chudasama 2/22) lost to Saurashtra 164/7 in 19 overs (Cheteshwar Pujarg 38, Samarth Vyas 33, Parth Chauhan 25; Piyush Chawla 2/26) by three wickets. Baroda 156/5 in 20 overs (Ambati Rayudu 52, Vishnu Solanki 39; Anuj Raj 2/19) beat Bihar 120/8 in 20 overs (Sachin Kumar 38; Ninad Rathva 3/10, Krunal Pandya 2/25). Kaverappa bags career-best 5/11 in Karnataka win Mullanpur: Pacer Vidhwath Kaverappa bagged a career-best 5/11 as fancied Karnataka recorded a convincing 34-run win over Jammu & Kashmir in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group C match here on Sunday. Batting first, Karnataka were restricted to 147 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs, but the total proved to be more than enough as Jammu & Kashmir were bowled out for 113 in 18.2 overs. For J & K, India’s pace sensation Umran Malik returned figures of 1/37 from his full quota of four overs, while Abid Mushtaq and Rithik Singh picked up two wickets each. The J & K team kept losing wickets at regular intervals, failing to pose a threat to their much stronger opponents despite Vivrant Sharma’s 46-ball 63. Tottering at 31 for six in the seventh over, Abid Mushtaq chipped in with 32 off 26 balls to give J & K’s total a semblance of respectability. However, Mushtaq’s effort was never going to win his team the match as the damage been done inside the powerplay. They were 4/5 in three overs. Besides Kaverappa, who was playing in only his fourth T20 match, there were two wickets apiece for Vasuki Koushik and Vijaykumar Vyshak. Earlier, Karnataka also kept losing wickets until Shreyas Gopal steadied the ship with a 48 off 38 balls. Manoj Bhandage, then, blazed away to a 23-ball 41, hitting four sixes and two boundaries to prop up Karnataka. Brief Scores: Karnataka: 147/7 in 20 overs (Shreyas Gopal 48, Manoj Bhandage 41) beat Jammu & Kashmir 113 all out in 18.2 overs (Vivrant Sharma 63; Vidhwath Kaverappa 5/11) by 34 runs. Services 148/8 in 20 overs (Anshul Gupta 39; Vaisakh Chandran 3/28) beat Kerala 136 all out in 19.4 overs (Sachin Baby 36, Sanju Samson 30; Nitin Yadav 3/12, Arjun Sharma 3/36, Pulkit Narang 2/17, Parth Rekhade 2/19). Maharashtra 144 all out in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 38; Abhishek Kumar 4/37) beat Meghalaya 70 all out in 18.1 overs (Yogesh Tiwari 26; Satyajeet Bachhav 4/26) by 74 runs. Read all the Latest News ****, Trending News ****, Cricket News ****, Bollywood News ****, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook****, Twitter and Instagram****.