Mayank, Smaran fifties guide Karnataka to victory
Destructive half-centuries from Bharat Sharma (74 off 47) and Deepak Hooda (65 off 33) set up Rajasthan's massive 62-run victory over Mizoram in Rajkot. Put in to bat, Rajasthan started briskly with opener Abhijeet Tomar making 22 of the 28-run opening stand with Bharat before departing. Bharat found company in Hooda, and together the pair put in 127 runs in just 12 overs at more than 10 an over. Hooda was the aggressor, slamming half a dozen sixes in his 33-ball knock. Skipper Mahipal Lomror added the finishing touches with a nine-ball cameo worth 23 that also comprised three maximums, and Kartik Sharma chipped in a handy 19 off 8 to take the team's total to a massive 217/6. Mizoram openers were also brisk at the start but couldn't quite keep up with the asking rate in their 71-run opening stand. Three quick wickets - including those of both set openers - in the next five overs pegged them back further. Mohit Jangra's enterprising 41* off 28 then proved too little too late as Mizoram could muster only 155/5 in reply.
Aggressive fifties from skipper Mayank Agarawal (51 off 31) and Smaran Ravichandran (57 off 31), followed by handy lower-order cameos, helped set Karnataka's emphatic chase of Tripura's 185/5 with three balls to spare. V Koushik vindicated Karnataka's decision to bowl first with a third-over strike, but Tripura recovered well through the top-scoring effort of their skipper Mandeep Singh who finished with an unbeaten 66 off 41 balls. He added a 54-run stand for the second wicket with Samrat Sutradhar (55 off 36) and then joined hands with M Murasingh (26 off 21) for a 72-run partnership where the captain did the bulk of the scoring. However, a late collapse kept them to 185 eventually. Karnataka lost two of their top-three cheaply but Mayank and Smaran's 101-run partnership revived the chase. The skipper hit three sixes and as many fours, but the no. 4 batter was the aggressor, hitting eight crisp boundaries and a couple of maximums before being run-out. Karnataka lost their well-set captain in quick succession but Abhinav Manohar (34* off 16) took charge, and alongside Shubhang Hegde (20* off 9), saw them through comfortably with some lusty blows towards the end.
Skipper Virat Singh shone among a slew of batting cameos in Jharkhand's clinical dismantling of Manipur by 88 runs. Ishan Kishan laid the groundwork with a 15-ball 24 upfront before Virat took charge and hammered 10 boundaries on his way to a 32-ball 64 with half-century stands with Utkarsh Singh and Kumar Kushagra along the way. Virat then took a backseat when Pankaj Kumar found his groove - his 21-ball unbeaten cameo of 41 comprising five fours and a couple of hits over the fence. Then, in turn, Pankaj was left stranded in his 40s as Robin Minz took charge, slamming 36* off just 12 in their 45-run unbeaten stand to proper Jharkhand to a mammoth 243/4 at the BKC in Mumbai. Two quick wickets later, Manipur put on some resistance in the form of a 62-run stand between Kangabam Priyojit Singh, who carried his bat through, and Johnson Singh (24 off 23). However, it was all in vain as Manipur crumbled against the ever-climbing asking rate to finish with just 155/6 from their 20.
Harpreet Brar stole the show with his 3-18, aided by Ramandeep Singh's 2 for 6 in two overs, as Bihar were restricted to just 113/6. Brar struck thrice in quick succession in his middle-overs spell, after Baltej Singh provided the initial breakthrough, to reduce Bihar to 73/4 from a comfortable 56/1 in the space of five overs. Bihar could never recover from the mini collapse as Ramandeep then picked his two in the 12th over to leave them reeling at 74/6. A lowly target of 114 was then chased down by Punjab inside 10 overs for a massive NRR boost. Prabhsimran Singh started the fireworks with his boundary filled 15-ball 38 up top, well aided by skipper Abhishek Sharma's 14-ball 33 that included two maximums. Their opening partnership of 71 came in just four overs and nearly sealed the fate of the game. Nawaz Khan sent them both packing in the eighth over but the damage had well and truly been done.
Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya delivered with the bat to help Baroda win their second successive game. Uttarakhand made a strong start with the bat and raced to 96/1 at the halfway point before Baroda came back strong. Both Hardik and Krunal played a role with the ball as well picking a wicket apiece as the batting side collapsed in the second half to finish with 165/7. In the chase, Krunal came up to bat at No.4 after his side was reduced to 50/3. He was involved in a crucial partnership with Atit Sheth first and then later with Hardik with the fast-bowling allrounder being the aggressor. While Krunal fell for 45, Hardik remained unbeaten on 41 off just 21 balls as Baroda got the job done with 8 balls to spare.
A thorough bowling performance led by Ishant Sharma and Simarjeet Singh helped Delhi brush aside Jammu and Kashmir. Delhi made a jittery start with the bat as they not only lost wickets at regular intervals but also were scoring just over 6 around the halfway mark. However, Himmat Singh and Mayank Rawat joined forces in the 13th over and batted until the end, providing them some much-needed impetus to guide Delhi to 161/4. Himmat remained unbeaten on 71 whereas Rawat made 29* off 19. Ishant then gave Delhi a terrific start with the ball by picking two wickets in the very first over and J&K just didn't recover from that. Wickets kept tumbling as Simarjeet picked two and Harsh Tyagi helped himself to a 3-wicket haul to bowl Delhi to a 35-run win.
An outstanding cameo from Divyang Hinganekar stunned Kerala at the death as Maharashtra prevailed by 4 wickets. Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to make an impact in the chase but Rahul Tripathi's 28-ball 44 helped Maharashtra set a platform. Kerala then bounced back in style in the middle overs as Maharashtra were now left needing 62 in the final five overs. Hinganekar then hammered an unbeaten 43 off just 18 balls to complete the win off the penultimate ball. Earlier in the day, despite losing Sanju Samson for just 19, vital contributions from multiple batters helped Kerala post a strong 187/7, a total that fell just short.
Nishant Sindhu, who was picked up for his base price the previous day in the auction, hammered an unbeaten 48-ball 100 and Himanshu Rana almost helped himself to a century that saw Haryana absolutely hammer Arunachal Pradesh. Fireworks from Sindhu and Rana saw Haryana put up a massive total of 255 and Arunachal in reply surrendered in meek fashion. Only their openers touched double digits as Harshal Patel wrecked their batting lineup with a five-fer that saw them fold for just 80.
Another one-sided contest saw Tamil Nadu smash Sikkim in Indore. TN's top four all made contributions with N Jagadeesan top-scoring with a 49-ball 88 that saw him clear the ropes five times. Varun Chakaravarthy and Sai Kishore hit a six each at the death as well to carry TN past the 200-run mark. Sikkim were never in the contest right from the start as they were just content batting out their 20 overs. They finished with just 84/7.
Rajat Patidar and Venkatesh Iyer starred in the demolition of Meghalaya as Madhya Pradesh picked up another win. Despite losing their openers cheaply, MP recovered with ease as Patidar smashed six fours and six sixes in his 36-ball 78. Venkatesh, who was bought for an eye-popping price in the auction, did his finishing duties to perfection by hammering four sixes in his unbeaten 37 as MP made 222/5. Venkatesh also picked up a wicket with the new ball as Meghalaya endured a tough time with the bat as well to eventually fall 101 runs short.
Mohammed Shami's fine form post his comeback continued as he starred in Bengal's easy win over Hyderabad. After he removed the Hyderabad openers, Tilak Varma struck a vital half-century. Unfortunately for the left-hander, he kept losing partners at the other end with Shahbaz Ahmed among the wickets as well. Hyderabad finished with only 137 with their last 7 wickets adding only 37 runs. Bengal's openers then pretty much got the job done by putting on 84 for the first wicket. Once they departed, Shahbaz got the job done by contributing with the bat as well.
Uttar Pradesh's star-studded bowling lineup came to the fore as Himachal Pradesh were blown away at the Wankhede Stadium. Bhuvneshwar Kumar kickstarted the slide with the opening wicket and from thereon, the likes of Mohsin Khan, Shivam Mavi and Vineet Panwar took charge. Piyush Chawla then wrecked the lower order to finish with a four-wicket haul as Himachal got bowled out for just 100. UP were reeling at 30/3 in the run chase but Rinku Singh brushed aside any concerns by hammering an unbeaten 45 off just 24 balls to get the job done.
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