Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Shikhar Dhawan guides Delhi to big win, UP collapse against Railways

Dharamsala: Opener Shikhar Dhawan finally found himself among the runs as he smashed 82 off 47 balls to power Delhi to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Services in a north zone leg match of Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament on Thursday. Opting to bowl, Delhi restricted Services to 131 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs and then, riding on Dhawan’s blitzkrieg, chased down the target of 132 off with as many as 39 balls to spare at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. [caption id=“attachment_3264158” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Shikhar Dhawan. AFP[/caption] Dhawan’s match-winning knock came a day after another southpaw, Gautam Gambhir, found his mojo back with a half century. Dhawan struck 11 boundaries and three sixes, spending 63 minutes in the middle. Such was the India player’s onslaught that the failure of other Delhi players such as Unmukt Chand and Pawan Negi didn’t matter. After his 60-run knock on Wednesday, Gambhir got out for 11, but there was no stopping Dhawan as he carted the Services bowlers. For Services, Amit Pachhara top-scored with 56 off 46 deliveries, while Vikas Tokas (3/23) and Manan Sharma (2/8) were the most successful bowlers for the winning team. In the day’s other north zone match, Punjab defeated Himachal Pradesh by 23 runs. Sent into bat, Punjab rode on opener Manan Vohra’s 60 to post 162 for seven, and then restricted HP to 139 for nine. UP collapse for 58 to face a 90-run defeat against Railways Jaipur: Railways bowlers wreaked havoc to bundle out Uttar Pradesh for 58 and post a comprehensive 90-run win in a Central Zone leg match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy T20 cricket tournament on Thursday. Electing to bat, Railways scored 148 for eight in their allotted 20 overs and then bowled out UP in just 13.3 overs, riding on their collective bowling effort. UP began their run chase on a poor note. In the first nine balls only, Railways seamers Amit Mishra (2/10) and Anureet Singh (1/04) had reduced them to 0 for three. Later Manjeet Singh (2/12), Karn Sharma (2/14), Ashish Singh (2/08) and Avinash Yadav (1/10) capitalised on the early advantage and never let the UP batamen settle down. Sarfaraz Khan (18) and Rinku Singh (16) were the only batsmen from UP who reached the double-digit mark. Earlier, Mahesh Rawat scored his third successive half-century as he posted an unbeaten 58 off 42 deliveries to pull Railways out of trouble after they struggling at 33 for three in the fifth over with Praveen Kumar claiming the first three victims. He conceded 18 runs from his four overs for three wickets. Rawat held on to his ground firmly, even as wickets kept falling in the other end and almost single-handedly took Railways to a total of 148. Brief scores: Railways: 148 for 8 in 20 overs (Mahesh Rawat 58 not out; Praveen Kumar 3/18). Uttar Pradesh: 58 all out in 13.3 overs (Ashish Singh 2/08; Amit Mishra 2/10, Manjeet Singh 2/12, Karn Sharma 2/14). Summarised Scores of other Central Zone match: Rajasthan beat Chhattisgarh by 25 runs. Rajasthan: 161 for 6 in 20 overs (DD Hada 35, Dishant Yagnik 32; Shubham Agarwal 2/35). Chhattisgarh: 136 for 7 in 20 overs (Shubham Agarwal 51; Aniket Choudhary 3/21).