When Jharkhand’s Pankaj Kumar flicked Ayush Goyal for a six off the first ball of the 19th over to take his team to victory at the DY Patil Academy ground in Ambi, he was perhaps unaware of the piece of history he had created as he walked towards his partner, Kumar Kushagra, at the other end.
The strike over fine leg had helped Jharkhand chase down Punjab’s mammoth target of 236 runs with 11 balls to spare and six wickets in hand, thereby breaking the record for the biggest run chase in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history, going past Mumbai’s 230 runs against Andhra in 2024. It was also their eighth straight win in this year’s competition, having won each of their seven matches in the group phase.
The foundation to the chase was laid by captain Ishan Kishan, who made 47 runs off 23 balls, putting on 60 runs in 29 balls with Kushagra before falling to Ramandeep Singh.
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Kushagra drove the innings forward after Kishan’s dismissal, showcasing exceptional off-side play. The right-hander used the arc from long off to third man superbly and took a particular liking for Sanvir Singh, who went for 28 runs off 13 balls of his bat.
Kushagra put on 66 runs for the fourth wicket with Anukul Roy, who contributed 37 off 17 balls. The latter’s dismissal left Jharkhand needing 70 runs in 41 balls, but Kushagra and Kumar stayed till the end to clinch victory and claim all four points.
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The record breaking win meant that Salil Arora’s blitzkrieg innings of 125 off 45 balls, which took Punjab to the massive score, went in vain.
Brief Scores: Punjab 235/6 in 20 overs (Arora 125) lost to Jharkhand 237/4 in 18.1 overs (Kushagra 86 not out, Kishan 47).
Hyderabad rout Mumbai
Hyderabad produced a clinical nine-wicket win over Mumbai at the DY Patil Stadium in Pune, led by Mohammed Siraj’s 3/17 and Tanmay Agarwal’s 75 off 40 balls. The pacer, who played only one match in the group phase, returned from a fruitless first spell to remove three late wickets and derail Mumbai’s surge to a big total. Siraj was supported by captain Chama Milind, who took 2/36, and Tanay Thyagarajan, who took 2/27.
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In reply, the Hyderabad opening pair of Aman Rao and Agarwal set a scorching pace, with the former taking the lead and taking the score to 68/0 after the powerplay. Agarwal caught up with his partner and reached his fifty off 30 balls.
The pair put on 127 runs for the first wicket before Agarwal fell for 75 off 40 balls. The damage, however, was already done by then.
Brief scores: Mumbai 131 all out in 18.5 overs (Tamore 29, Jaiswal 29; Siraj 3/17) lost to Hyderabad 132/1 in 11.5 overs (Agarwal 75, Aman 52 not out).
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Nitish Reddy’s hat-trick in vain
All-rounder Nitish Reddy took a hat-trick, but could not prevent Andhra from going down to Madhya Pradesh by four wickets. Defending a modest 112, the seamer reduced MP to 14/3, removing Harsh Gawali, Harpreet Singh Bhatia and Rajat Patidar off the fourth, fifth and sixth balls of the third over.
However, Rishabh Chouhan and Rahul Batham staged a recovery after the early dents, putting on 73 runs for the fifth wicket to help ease the nerves and claim victory in the team’s first Super League match.
Brief Scores: Andhra 112 all out in 19.1 overs (Bharat 39; Shukla 4/23, Tripuresh 3/31) lost to Madhya Pradesh 113/6 in 17.3 overs (Chouhan 47, Batham 35 not out; Reddy 3/17).
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Ankit Kumar takes Haryana home
Captain Ankit Kumar starred with the bat, making a 41-ball 60 to take Haryana home against Rajasthan by seven wickets. After Kumar won the toss and elected to field first, his new ball bowling pair of Anshul Kamboj and Ishant Bharadwaj reduced Rajasthan to 29/4 inside the powerplay. Shubham Garhwal and Mahipal Lomror tried to resurrect the innings, but the former’s dismissal in the 11th over halted their progress towards reaching a competitive score. They eventually ended up with 132/8 in 20 overs, which proved to be too few in the end.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan 132/8 in 20 overs (Lomror 37, Garhwal 32; Kamboj 2/24) lost to Haryana 133/3 in 16.2 overs (Kumar 60).