Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Nitish Rana steers Delhi to second win

Coming into bat with 84 runs needed off 10.1 overs, Rana scored an unbeaten 50 (25b, 1x4, 6x6) to steer Delhi home with 2.4 overs to spare against Chandigarh.

Nitish Rana scored an unbeaten 50 as Delhi beat Chandigarh in Rohtak on Friday.

Nitish Rana’s six-hitting spree enabled Delhi to chase down its target of 145 with relative ease as Chandigarh fell to a seven-wicket defeat in a Group E contest in Lahli on Friday.

Coming into bat with 84 runs needed off 10.1 overs, Rana scored an unbeaten 50 (25b, 1x4, 6x6) to steer Delhi home with 2.4 overs to spare. Opener Anuj Rawat, who scored 44 (35b, 3x4, 3x6), was the other chief contributor with the bat. Three of Chandigarh’s bowlers – Parmesh, Jaskarandeep Singh, Bhagmender Lather and Kunal Mahajan – registered economy rates of 10 or more, nullifying the economical spells of Jagjit Singh Sandhu (0 for 17) and Gurinder Singh (1 for 19).

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Chandigarh began sprightly with the bat after being inserted in, openers Manan Vohra (42, 41b, 4x4, 2x6) and Sarul Kanwar (50, 36b, 3x4, 5x6) combining for a 79-run partnership. Chandigarh unravelled, however, when the partnership was broken in the 12th over, and only two batters – A. K. Kaushik (12, 11b) and Jaskarandeep Singh (19b, 7b) – scored in double digits as their team limped to 144 for 8.

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A day after going down in a thrilling contest in Sultanpur, Saurashtra was on the right side of another close affair at the same venue, this time against Uttar Pradesh. Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 63 (41b, 3x4, 4x6) went in vain as UP, needing 148 in 20 overs to win, finished on 145 for 8, losing by two runs.

In the afternoon clash, Hyderabad beat Uttarakhand by 61 runs. Tanmay Agarwal scored a career-best 97 (59b, 7x4, 6x6) as Hyderabad posted 167 for 5 in its 20 overs. In reply, Uttarakhand was bowled out in 18.3 overs for 106. Left-arm medium-pacer Chama Milind took his maiden five-wicket haul in T20s.

Brief scores   

1.  At Sultanpur : Saurashtra 147/7 in 20 overs beat Uttar Pradesh 145/8 in 20 overs (Rinku Singh 63 n.o.) by two runs.

2.  At Sultanpur : Hyderabad 167/5 in 20 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 97 n.o.) beat Uttarakhand 106 in 18.3 overs (C. V.Milind 5 for 16) by 61 runs.

3.  At Rohtak : Chandigarh 144/8 in 20 overs (Sarul Kanwar 50, Manan Vohra 42) lost to Delhi 148/3 in 17.2 overs (Nitish Rana 50 n.o., Anuj Rawat 44) by seven wickets.