It’s all over, UP lose again
After losing to Karnataka by 10 runs, Akshdeep and Co lose to Vidarbha by an identical margin
LUCKNOW: It’s all over for former champions Uttar Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 on Sunday as they lost to Vidarbha by 10 runs, at the Emerald Heights International School Ground at Indore.
Needing 144 to win, in a Group B Super League encounter, Uttar Pradesh could score 133/9 in 20 overs. On Saturday too, they had lost to Karnataka also by 10 runs, at the Holkar Stadium.
Even consecutive wins in the remaining matches against Delhi on Monday, and Mumbai on Tuesday, won’t make a difference as from Karnataka with all three wins in as many as matches have almost qualified for the final, scheduled to be played on March 14.
Barring two openers Upendra Yadav (26, 11b, 4x4, 1x6) and Samarth Singh (39, 39b, 1x4, 1x6) none could show any resistance as they found Vidarbha bowlers as well as fielders a tough nut to crack before falling short of 10 runs.
Both Upendra and Samarth stitched together 28 runs in just 14 balls for the opening wicket, but once the two departed, Uttar Pradesh batsmen found it hard to keep the scoreboard ticking with same pace. Saurabh Kumar (11) and Aksh Deep Nath (17) were other two batsmen, who could reach the double figure mark.
SB Wagh turned out to be the star performer for Vidarbha, bagging 3/25, whereas AK Karnewar had 2/29. RL Jangid and AA Wakhare shared two wickets between them.
Earlier, Vidarbha openers Atharva Taide (41, 37b, 3x4, 2x6) and JM Sharma (22, 19b, 1x4, 2x6) gave a solid start to team’s innings, adding 52-run for the first wicket.
SU Shrivastava (23, 24b, 1x4) too played his part nicely as Vidarbha managed 143/7 after being sent to bat first.
Mohsin Khan and Ankit Choudhary took two wickets each, whereas Ankit Rajpoot and Saurabh Kumar bagged a wicket each.
Meanwhile, in other matches at Indore on Sunday, aformidable Karnataka continued their winning streak in the Super League stages after they trounced Delhi by 8 wickets in Group B match here .
Earlier, Karnataka had beaten domestic giants Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh in their previous two Super League stage matches of the national T20 tournament.
It was an all-round show from Karnataka where right- arm medium pacer Koushik V shone with the ball and later Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair remained unbeaten as Karnataka chased the 110-run target with utmost ease.
Karnataka bowlers justified their skipper’s decision to invite Delhi to bat first at the Emerald Heights International School Ground.
Koushik (4-19) and leg-spinner K C Cariappa (3-15) wreaked havoc as Delhi was restricted to a meagre 109/9 in their 20 overs.
Apart from Nitish Rana (37 off 29 balls) and Lalit Yadav (33 off 40 balls), no other Delhi batsman showed spine as Koushik and Cariappa rattled their top and middle order.
For Karnataka, medium pacer R Vinay Kumar (1-13) also played his role to perfection.
Chasing 110, Karnataka lost in-form opener Rohan Kadam (0) in the second over after he was caught by rival skipper Ishant Sharma off pacer Navdeep Saini.
Wicket-keeper B R Sharath (26 off 15 balls) and ever dependable Agarwal (43 not out off 47 balls) added 32 for the second wicket, but then Sharath was run out by Subodh Bhati.
Karun Nair, who has a triple hundred in Tests, then joined Agarwal as the duo took Karnataka home with 4.3 overs to spare and in the process took the Delhi bowlers to task.
All Delhi bowlers, including test specialist Ishant Sharma (0-7), had an off day in the field.
In Group A game, Bengal thrashed Jharkhand by 8 wickets.
Bengal bowlers dished a clinical performance to restrict Jharkhand to 126/9 in 20 overs and then chased the target with seven overs to spare.
Shreevats Goswami starred with the bat as he remained unbeaten on 86 off just 50 balls, striking 12 fours and a six to help Bengal grab four points.
BRIEF SCORES Vidarbha 143/7
(Atharva Taide 41, S U Srivastava 23, J M Sharma 22; Ankit Choudhary 2-28, Mohsin Khan 2-40)
won against Uttar Pradesh 133/9
(Samarth Singh 39, Upendra Yadav 26; Srikant Wagh 2-24, Akshay Karnewar 2-29) by 10 runs.