Shreyas Iyer's blazing form will be some sort of an assurance for his franchise Delhi Daredevils as his quickfire unbeaten 79 off 49 balls helped Mumbai beat Ranji Trophy champions Gujarat by 5 wickets in a West Zone leg game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in Vadodara, on Monday.
While it can't be termed as a revenge for the Ranji champions, Iyer will be feeling happy having hit six fours and four huge sixes with Mumbai chasing down a modest target of 132 in only 18.2 overs.
Ajinkya Rahane (25) however looked rusty during the opening stand of 42. Rahane in fact played 30 balls and found it difficult to rotate the strike.
None of the Mumbai batsmen save Shivam Dubey (10) got to double figures but it was not needed as Shreyas was hitting the Gujarat bowlers out of the park.
Seamer Chintan Gaja (0/20 in 2 overs) and off-spinner Rujul Bhatt (2/32 in 4 overs) got some special treatment from the talented right-hander.
Earlier, 45-year-old IPL specialist Pravin Tambe (2/19 in 4 overs), easily the oldest active cricketer in Indian domestic circuit currently, warmed up nicely for the big event. Seamer Prathamesh Dake (2/13) was the other successful bowler as Mumbai restricted Gujarat to 131/9.
Brief Scores
Gujarat 131/9 (Rujul Bhatt 47, Pravin Tambe 2/19)
Mumbai 133/5 in 18.2 overs (Shreyas Iyer 79 no)
Mumbai won by 5 wickets.
Maharashtra 165/9 (Ankit Bawne 71, Shaurya Sanadia 4/37)
Saurashtra 150/9 (Prerak Mankad 72, Anupam Sankleha 2/20).
Punjab beat Delhi by two wickets as Gambhir, Dhawan come cropper
Punjab beat Delhi by two wickets in a North Zone leg match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament with senior players like Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan flopping badly in Dharamsala.
Batting first, Delhi scored 103 for 9 in 20 overs while Punjab reached the target losing 8 wickets in 19.2 overs.
Both teams have now won one and lost one match.
Gautam Gambhir's (5) inability against moving deliveries was once again exposed as he edged Manpreet Gony delivery to Jaskaranveer Singh behind the stumps. Dhawan was also caught by Gurkeerat Singh off Gony's bowling.
Gony emerged (3/26 in 4 overs) as the pick of bowlers while Sandeep Sharma (2/16) was equally economical.
Skipper Harbhajan Singh 1/14 in 4 overs kept it tight as the hard-hitting Nitish Rana (15) was caught by glovesman Jaskaranveer trying to play the cut.
In reply, Punjab kept on losing wickets at regular intervals but managed to cross the line with four balls to spare.
Anmolpreet Singh (28) and Sharad Lumba (36) were the main contributors.
Brief Scores
Delhi 103/9 in 20 overs (Gautam Gambhir 5, Shikhar Dhawan 2, Manpreet Gony 3/26, Harbhajan Singh 1/14)
Punjab 106/8 in 19.2 overs (Sharad Lumba 36, Anmolpreet Singh 28).
Punjab won by 2 wickets.
Haryana 133 all out (Rajat paliwal 27, Jayant Yadav 4)
HP 134/5 in 20 overs (Sumeet Verma 54, Jayant Yadav 0/14 in 2 overs).
HP won by 5 wickets.
Services 145 in 19.4 overs (Amit Pachhara 45, Hardik
Sethi 34, Umar Nazir 3/34)
J&K 140 in 19.5 overs (Nishan Singh 4/24).
