Minnows Odisha shocked heavyweights Delhi beating them by seven wickets in a Super League T20 match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in Indore, on Thursday.
After scoring highly in the first two games courtesy of Unmukt Chand's twin centuries, Delhi were bundled out for a paltry 80 in 19.5 overs with left-arm seamer Suryakant Pradhan taking four for 11. Pawan Negi was the top-scorer with 20.
The in-form Chand was dismissed off the very first delivery when he was caught by wicketkeeper Subhrajit Sahoo off Pradhan's bowling.
In reply, Odisha knocked off the runs with eight balls to spare as Ankit Yadav (26) and Gobind Poddar (25) shone with the bat.
This is the second defeat for Delhi and they now have only four points from three games and it looks unlikely they could make it to the final.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 80 in 19.5 overs (Pawan Negi 20, Suryakant Pradhan 4/11).
Odisha 84/3 in 18.4 overs (Ankit Yadav 26, Gobind Poddar 25).
Kaif shines for UP
Riding on Mohammad Kaif's half-century, Uttar Pradesh got the better of Karnataka by 10 runs in a Super League match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament in Indore, on Thursday.
Kaif smashed his way to 54-ball 70 laced with three fours and four sixes to take UP to a competitive 163 for seven in their allotted 20 overs.
Chasing the target, Karnataka batsmen fought hard but fell short at the end, reaching 153 for eight.
Put in to bat by Karnataka, UP lost opener Prashant Gupta (4) early but Kaif made sure that held on firmly to one end of the wicket.
Even as wickets fell at the other end, Kaif played a responsible knock. He was ably supported by Gaurav Tomar (25), Tanmay Srivastava (22) for brief periods.
In reply, Karnataka got off to a poor start to be struggling at 31 for three.
Although the middle order -- K Lokesh (34), Stuart Binny (39) and Karun Nair (29) -- consolidated the innings, the tail crumbled under pressure.
Punjab crush Bengal
Punjab came up with a fine all-round performance to register a 25-run victory over Bengal in the Super League Group B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament in Indoare.
Electing to bat, Punjab scored 168 for six in their stipulated 20 overs, and then restricted Bengal to 143 for eight.
Opener Ravinder Singh scored a quickfire 46-ball 60, studded with eight fours and a six, to lay a solid platform.
Mayank Sidana (30) and Gurkeerat Singh (27) then made valuable contributions to take the team to a competitive total.
For Bengal, Sayan Mondal (2/21), Shami Ahmed (2/30) and Sanjib Sanyal (2/35) chipped in with two wickets each.
Bengal never got going with the bat and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with Siddarth Kaul (2/24), Amitoze Singh (2/25), Rahul Sharma (2/32) and Rajwinder Singh (2/32) claiming two each.
Shreevats Goswami top scored with 33 from 27 balls with the help of six boundaries.
Brief scores:
Punjab: 168 for six in 20 overs (Ravinder Singh 60, Mayank Sidana 30; Sayan Mondal 2/21).
Bengal: 143 for eight in 20 overs (Shreevats Goswami 33, Wriddhiman Saha 22; Siddarth Kaul 2/24, Amitoze Singh 2/25).
Kerala edge past Vidarbha
In another Super League match, Kerala edged past Vidarbha in a rain-affected match by one wicket with 3 balls remaining via the VJD method.
- Duckworth-Lewis vs Jayadevan
After Vidarbha scored 138 for five in 19 overs, they restricted Kerala to 111 for nine in 12.3 overs to emerge victorius.
For Vidarbha, Amol Ubarhande top scored with 55, while opener Faiz Fazal made 27.
Raiphi Gomez blasted 42 not out from a mere 16 balls with two fours and four sixes but he failed to get enough support from the other batsmen.
Photograph: Pradeep Mandhani/Getty Images
