Dhawan gets duck, J&K stun Delhi

SURAT: Shikhar Dhawan failed to score in his first game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy as Delhi suffered a shock eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Jammu and Kashmir for their first loss of the tournament.

Nitish Rana took Delhi to 165 for seven with 55 off 30 balls, a quickfire innings that included half a dozen sixes. This was after Delhi decided to bat at the Patel International Stadium.

Jammu and Kashmir made short of the 166-run target, racing to victory in 15.5 overs with eight wickets in hand. The flying start to the chase was provided by openers Shubham Khajuria (49 off 22) and Jatin Wadhawan (48 not out off 33) before Manzoor Dar smashed 58 off 24 balls.

It was the first loss for Delhi and first victory for Jammu and Kashmir. Dar was picked up by IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab ahead of the 2018 edition but did not get a game.

The franchise eventually released him. With a blistering knock on Thursday, he is certain to attract some attention ahead of the IPL auctions next month. Dhawan’s innings lasted just nine balls.

MUMBAI WIN THRILLER Allrounder Shubham Ranjane shone with both bat and ball as his unbeaten 30 helped Mumbai defeat Bengal by three wickets in a last ball thriller in Mumbai on Thursday.

Chasing a modest 154-run target, Mumbai were teetering at 105/5 at a stage.

And then thanks to Ranjane’s heroics with the bat, Mumbai chased the target on the final ball to remain unbeaten.

This was Mumbai’s fifth win and they are on top of the points table in Group D and have almost sealed their place in the knockout stage. The hosts needed four runs to win of the final ball and Ranjane (30 not out off 17 balls, 5x4) reverse swept a full toss to the third man boundary

Mumbai opener Jay Bista (48 off 41 balls; 5x4 and 1x6) and Aditya Tare (37 off 27 balls) added 78 for the first wicket before the team’s middle order collapsed. Shreyas Iyer (15), Siddhesh Lad (0) and Shivam Dube (0) fell in quick succession after Bista departed as Mumbai slumped to 105-5 from 102-2.

Then Ranjane did the rescue act in company of skipper Suryakumar Yadav (22 of 18 balls), as the two took the hosts near the target.

However, Surya fell with three balls to left, putting the onus on Ranjane, who finished the match in style.

Brief scores: Jammu and Kashmir 166/2 in 15.5 overs beat Delhi 165 /7 in 20 overs by eight wickets.