New Delhi [India], November 7 : Fine knocks from Abhishek Sharma, Ayush Mhatre and Sanju Samson and top-class bowling spells from Arshad Khan, Anshul Kamboj and Mohammed Shami were amongst the highlights in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Saturday.
Following Saturday's action, Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh (20 points each, Group A, Elite), Hyderabad and Madhya Pradesh (20 and 16 points each, Group B, Elite), Punjab and Gujarat (16 points each, Group C, Elite), and Jharkhand and Rajasthan (24 points each, Group D, Elite) are in the top two in their respective Elite groups. In the Plate Group, Sikkim and Mizoram (16 points each) are at the top.
Starting with the clash between Punjab and Services, it was Prabhsimran Singh (50 in 28 balls, with seven fours and two sixes), Abhishek Sharma (62 in 34 balls, with eight fours and three sixes) and Naman Dhir (two fours and six sixes) who took Punjab to 233/6 after they were put to bowl first. Services were skittled out for 160 in 19.4 overs, with Abhishek, spinner Harpreet Brar and all-rounder Sanvir Singh getting two apiece.
Shifting focus to the clash between Chhattisgarh and Mumbai, the skipper Shardul Thakur (3/19) and Tushar Deshpande (2/38) played a crucial role in bundling their opponents out for 121 in 19.4 overs. Knocks from Mhatre (69 in 49 balls, with three fours and five sixes) and Ajinkya Rahane (40 in 28 balls, with three fours and two sixes) took Mumbai to a win with eight wickets and 4.1 overs left.
Andhra did secure a seven-wicket win over Kerala while chasing 120 runs, with Srikar Bharat (53 in 28 balls, with six fours and three sixes) taking his team to a win. It was Sanju's lone-warrior effort of 73* in 56 balls, with eight fours and three sixes, taking Kerala to 119/7 in 20 overs, which served as a highlight.
Half-centuries also came from young Indian stars Sai Sudharsan and 2025 IPL winner with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Devdutt Padikkal. However, both fifties came in a losing cause.
Sudharsan (64 in 42 balls, with nine fours) fought hard and top-scored in Tamil Nadu's 208-run chase against Jharkhand, who had made 207/3 with explosive fifties from Kumar Kushagra (84* in 48 balls, with five fours and five sixes) and Virat Singh (72* in 39 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes), despite a failure from skipper Ishan Kishan (2). TN was restricted to 179/8 in 20 overs.
Also, after restricting Saurashtra to 178/8 in 20 overs, thanks to a fine spell from Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/28) after putting Saurashtra to bat first, Padikkal (66 in 46 balls, with nine fours and six) and Ravichandran Smaran (30 in 22 balls, with two sixes) fought a hard battle for Karnataka after they were reduced to 49/3 in 6.3 overs. Vyshak and Shreyas Gopal almost pulled it off for Karnataka, but they fell one run short at 177/9. Jaydev Unadkat (2/29) and a young Chetan Sakariya (2/37) bowled fine spells for Saurashtra.
Days after becoming the youngest SMAT century-scorer, Vaibhav Suryavanshi (11 in 11 balls, with two fours) endured another failure as Bihar posted 132/8 in 20 overs, with Tanay Thyagarajan (3/21) being the top wicket-taker for Hyderabad. Courtesy of a fine 67* in 42 balls, with 11 fours and a six by Tanmay Agarwal, Hyderabad chased down the target with seven wickets in hand.
The star-studded clash between UP and Maharashtra was a low-scoring one. UP posted 130/9 after being put to bat first, with Rinku Singh (45 in 29 balls, with six fours and a six), omitted from Indian T20I squad against South Africa, playing a crucial hand. RS Hangargekar (3/10) and Jalaj Saxena (2/19) bowled tight spells for MH. MH did chase down the total, with skipper Prithvi Shaw (28 in 28 balls, with three fours) and Arshin Kulkarni (23 in 19 balls, with two fours and a six) putting down a 53-run opening stand. Pacers Kartik Tyagi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (three and one wickets each) and spinner Vipraj Nigam (two wickets) fought, but MH chased it down with an over and three wickets left.
MP's all-rounder Arshad Khan and Haryana's one-Test-old Indian pacer Anshul Kamboj produced two match-winning spells. Arshad's four-over spell of 6/9 reduced Chandigarh to 134/8, despite a fifty from seasoned star Manan Vohra (52 in 43 balls, with three fours and three sixes). MP chased down the total in 14 overs with seven wickets left, with Harsh Gawali (74* in 40 balls, with six fours and five sixes) being the top scorer.
Later, while defending 175 for Haryana, Kamboj (4/23) produced a brilliant spell to leave eight runs short, despite knocks from Atit Sheth (44 in 33 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and RCB star Jitesh Sharma (33 in 19 balls, with two fours and two sixes).
Finally, Shami took 3/34 in four overs against Puducherry, who made 177/5 on the back of a fine captain's knock from Aman Khan (74 in 40 balls, with five fours and seven sixes), but Bengal was bundled out for 96 in 13.4 overs.