UP in Vinoo Mankad Trophy quarterfinals

LUCKNOW : Even before the two openers Shoaib Siddiqui and Aanjaneya Suryavanshi steeped in to bat in the second innings, last year quarterfinalists Uttar Pradesh were assured of a berth in the quarterfinals of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy as the target was quite small, at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat on Monday.

The two didn’t disappoint and struck identical 45 runs each to fashion team’s nine-wicket win, helping the side top the combined Elite A and B groups. Siddiqui’s 34-ball unbeaten innings contained six fours and two sixes, whereas Suryavanshi took 36 balls to hit four boundaries and three sixes before being stumped by Akash Ahamed off Parvez Sultan.

It was Uttar Pradesh’s sixth win as many as seven matches with a game against Gujarat being abandoned.

In fact, offie Rishbah Bansal and seamer Purnank Tyagi scripted UP’s win with a fascinating bowling performance after Tripura chose to bat first after winning the toss.

Kunal Tyagi (2/31) and Aquib Khan (2/12) shook up the Tripura batting at the start, reducing them to 26/4 in 8.2 overs. Thereafter, it was the duo of Purnank and Rishabh to complete the formality. Rishabh finished with 3/16, whereas Purnank had 3/29.

Rohit Basudeb (37, 32b, 6x4, 1x6), Sayan Deb (13) and Rituraj Debnath (11) were the batsmen for Tripura, who could reach the double figure mark.

The league matches in the tournament would continue till Wednesday, and only after that the knocnout line-up would be decided.

MATCH ABANONED

The Senior Women’s Twenty20 encounter between Uttar Pradesh and Cricket Association of Uttarakhand on Monday was abandoned after rain played spoil sport, at the RDCA Ground in Raipur. In as many as six matches, this was UP’s third match, which was abandoned. Now, they are at the second position with nine points in Group B after Himachal, which also have nine points with four wins.