Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Pandey ton floors Arunachal, Bengal stutters to win over Haryana
Manish Pandey was in fine touch for Karnataka as he hammered 46-ball 111 in a 146-run win against Arunachal Pradesh. Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary helped his side register a hard fought three-wicket run over Haryana.
Published : Feb 24, 2019 16:52 IST
Manish Pandey ambushed Arunachal Pradesh with a 46-ball 111 as Karnataka registered a thumping 146-win at the Barabati stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 227 to win, Arunachal lost wickets in a heap with opener Samarth Seth waging a lone battle. Seth hit six boundaries and a six but had no support from the other end.
He was run-out one shy of a deserving half-century with leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal snapping up a five-for as Arunachal was all out for the first time in three matches in Syed Mushtaq.
Read: As it happened
Earlier, openers Rohit Kadam and Mayank Agarwal got off to a brisk start after Manish Pandey won the toss and elected to bat. Kadam scored two boundaries off Sams Alam before Mayank Agarwal, playing his first match in Syed Mushtaq this season, took charge.
He opened his account with a powerful drive over mid-on before clobbering a length ball over the bowler's head for six. But having carved yet another boundary, Agarwal offered the simplest of chances to Song Tacho at mid-on much to the joy of seamer Akhilesh Sahani.
Three overs and 21 runs later, Karun Nair got a gentle half-tracker from Prateek Kataria, which found the sweet spot of Nair's bat only to land safely in the hands of Tana Davit; the lone fielder in the deep. Kadam soon followed suit as Arunachal kept its heavyweight opposition under eight runs an over in the first 10.
It was time for Pandey to step foot on the pedal and he did so in ruthless fashion, clobbering seven sixes and nine boundaries as off-spinners Techi Neri and Kshitiz Sharma bore the brunt of his willow.
Pandey reached his 100 off just 43 deliveries and together with R. Sharath, added a mammoth 137 for the fourth wicket. Arunachal bowled a few good balls, but they were interspersed with far too many loose ones and with Sharath too taking on the attacking mantle, Karnataka plundered 148 runs in the last 10 overs.
Bengal limps to victory
In another match, Bengal huffed and puffed to a three-wicket victory over Haryana. Set 142 to win, opener Shreevats Goswami hit three boundaries before falling to a brilliant diving catch by Chaitanya Bishnoi at mid-on.
Vivek Singh, at the other end, hammered three boundaries and two sixes as Bengal began solidly. Singh was caught in the deep off leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the seventh over.
Read: ‘Club cricket in a state of inertia in Bengal’ - Arun Lal
Skipper Manoj Tiwary then stitched together a partnership with Abhimanyu Easwaran but the latter's dismissal saw Bengal lose four wickets in quick succession before finally crossing the line in the 19th over.
Earlier, Tiwary won the toss and inserted Haryana in to bat. Himanshu Rana (60, 55b, 9x4) scored a fifty and Rahul Tewati struck a slew of lusty blows at the death to help Haryana to a modest total.
Ishan Porel, who replaced Sayan Ghosh in the XI, was the pick of the bowlers on his T20 debut for Bengal with three for 28.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka 226/4 in 20 overs ( Manish Pandey 111, R. Sharath 43, Rohan Kadam 25) beat Arunachal Pradesh in 20 overs (Samarth Seth 49; Shreyas Gopal five for 11). Haryana 141/8 in 20 overs ( Himanshu Rana 60, Rahul Tewatia 30; Ishan Porel three for 28) lost to Bengal 145 /7 in 19 overs (Vivek Singh 32, Manoj Tiwary 30). |