Pune (Maharashtra) [India], December 16 : Haryana sealed a memorable win over Hyderabad courtesy explosive fifties from skipper Ankit Kumar and Samant Jakhar and fine bowling spells by Amit Rana and Anshul Kamboj to book the title clash against a strong Jharkhand side scheduled for Thursday.
With this victory, Haryana have solidified their top spot in Group A with two wins and a loss, while Hyderabad slipped to second due to a poorer net-run-rate.
Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl first. Half-centuries from skipper Ankit Kumar (57 in 27 balls, with a four and six sixes) and Samant Jakhar (60 in 22 balls, with a four and eight sixes), along with a cameo from Parth Vats (45 in 19 balls, with two fours and three sixes) took Haryana to 246/7.
Skipper T Thyagarajan (2/43) and Ajay Dev Goud (2/66) were the pick of the bowlers for Hyderabad.
In Hyderabad's chase, only Rahul Buddhi (37 in 24 balls, with two fours and two sixes) crossed the 20-run mark as they were skittled out for 122 in 16.1 overs.
Amit Rana (3/14), Kamboj (2/16), Samant Jakhar (2/16) were amongst the top bowlers for Haryana.
Earlier, Nitish Kumar Reddy's all-round performance helped his side Andhra Pradesh to clinch a nine-run win against in-form Jharkhand in a Super League Group A match.
Nitish Kumar was named Player of the Match for his all-round performance. With this victory, Andhra Pradesh ended Jharkhand's nine-match winning streak, but nonetheless, Jharkhand will progress to the finals as they finished at the top in Group B over Andhra Pradesh with same win-loss thanks to a better net-run-rate.
Batting first, Srikar Bharat (35 off 19 balls) and Ashwin Hebbar (30 off 18 balls) notched up a 61-run partnership for the opening wicket. Nitish Reddy smashed 45 runs off 22 balls, including six fours and two sixes, as Andhra posted 203/7 in 20 overs. Rajandeep Singh (2/35) and Anukul Roy (2/30) were among the wicket-takers for Jharkhand.
In response, Captain Ishan Kishan (35 off 18 balls, including seven boundaries), Virat Singh (77 off 40 deliveries, with the help of four boundaries and seven sixes) stitched an 88-run partnership for the opening wicket.
Robin Minz scored 25 runs as Jharkhand posted 194/8 in 20 overs and lost the match by nine runs. With the ball, Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/32) and Saurabh Kumar (2/21) had a good outing for Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Mumbai won a high-scoring contest by three wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Batting first, Rajasthan made 216/4 in 20 overs after Deepak Hooda (51 off 31 balls) and Mukul Choudhary (54* off 28 balls) slammed half-centuries.
For Mumbai, captain Shardul Thakur (1/43), Tushar Deshpande (1/54), Sairaj Patil (1/31) and Shams Mulani (1/33) were among the wicket-takers.
While chasing, Ajinkya Rahane (72 off 41 balls with seven fours and three sixes) and Sarfaraz Khan (73 off 22 balls with six fours and three sixes) smashed blistering half-centuries that helped Mumbai to chase down a 217-run target in 18.1 overs.
Sarfaraz Khan was named Player of the Match for his match-winning half-century.
Punjab pulled off a thrilling two-wicket victory over Madhya Pradesh (MP) to end their winless run in the Super League stage. In a match to remember, Punjab chased down a challenging target of 226, thanks to stellar performances by Harnoor Singh, Salil Arora, and Ramandeep Singh, sealing the win in the final over of an edge-of-the-seat contest.
Put into bat, Madhya Pradesh posted a formidable 225 for 8 in their 20 overs. The innings was anchored by an attacking 70 off 43 balls from Venkatesh Iyer, featuring eight fours and two sixes, which kept the run rate high even after an early wicket.
Punjab were also helped by a late flurry of runs from Aniket Verma (31 off 16 balls, with three sixes) and Mangesh Yadav (28 off 12 balls, with four boundaries and a six), who kept the scoreboard ticking relentlessly in the death overs.
For Punjab, pacer Gurnoor Brar (3-45) and all-rounder Ramandeep Singh (2-38) were the most successful bowlers. However, the sheer hitting power of the MP batters meant both bowlers conceded over 40 runs in their spells.
Chasing 226, Punjab's opener, Harnoor Singh, provided an explosive start, keeping the required run rate in check. He smashed a quick 64 off 36 balls, with five fours and three sixes.
The chase, however, belonged to the magnificent efforts throughout the middle order. While Salil Arora played an anchor role with a vital 50 off 29 balls (with a four and five fifties), Anmolpreet Singh scored 38 off 14 balls (with four boundaries and three sixes). The final dramatic push was given by Ramandeep Singh as his unbeaten 21-ball 35 (with two fours and three sixes) kept the team in touching distance of a win and eventually sealed a win for Punjab.
With the equation coming down 23 runs off the final 12 balls, Ramandeep Singh took centre stage. The all-rounder was unstoppable with the bat. He scored 17 runs in the 19th over and then smashed a six off the first ball of the last over to get Punjab over the finishing line.
Ramandeep's all-round performance earned him the Player of the Match award.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
