Saurashtra registered their narrowest T20 victory in terms of runs, edging Karnataka by one run in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 Elite Group D match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Batting first, Saurashtra rode on collective contributions, with Vishvaraj Jadeja (40) and Siddhant Rana (42) leading the way as they posted 178 for 8.
Saurashtra's bowlers then held their nerve, with Chetan Sakariya (2 for 37), Jaydev Unadkat (2 for 29) and Prerak Mankad (2 for 37) sharing the spoils to restrict Karnataka to 177 for 9.
Devdutt Padikkal's 46-ball 66 kept Karnataka in the contest as they reached 103 for 3 in the 13th over, but back-to-back wickets of Manvanth Kumar L (9) and Shubhang Hegde (14) in successive deliveries of the 19th over dented their chase.
Karnataka eventually fell short despite No. 11 batter Vijaykumar Vyshak striking two fours at the death.
Karnataka needed 14 from the final over bowled by Ankur Panwar, who did well to concede just two runs from the first two balls before Vyshak swept the third over short fine leg for a four.
Pacer Panwar then bowled a crucial dot ball beating right-hander Vyshak with a wide yorker followed by a wide. Vyshak did well to steer the fifth ball for a four to thirdman with three needed from the last ball.
But Panwar held his nerve, bowling a wide yorker as Vyshak could only manage a single off the last ball with Karnataka suffering a narrow one-run defeat.
Mumbai, Andhra through to Super League from Group A
Star-studded Mumbai returned to winnings ways following their loss to Kerala in the previous round, defeating Chhattisgarh by eight wickets with skipper Shardul Thakur starring with the ball and Ayush Mhatre slamming a half century in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group A match, in Lucknow, on Saturday.
With one more round to go in the group stage, defending champions Mumbai (20 points), who have won five out of six games so far, and Andhra (20 points) -- who too have won five games -- advanced to the next stage of the competition.
Mumbai, who had lost to Kerala by 15 runs in the previous game, were served well by India all-rounder Thakur who returned excellent figures of 3/19 in three overs as Chhattisgarh were bundled out for a paltry 121 in 19.4 overs.
Mumbai openers Ayush Mhatre (69 not out, 39 balls) and India's batting stalwart Ajinkya Rahane (40 off 28 balls) were then involved in an 82-run stand as the reigning champions reached the target in 15.5 overs for the loss of two wickets.
Mumbai pacers held sway with Thakur making an early dent by getting rid of opener Amit Yadav and skipper Amandeep Khare in the third over of the innings, as consecutive wickets fell when Chhattisgarh had scored just 17 runs.
The early jolts, coupled with incisive bowling from right-arm pacer Tushar Deshpande (2/38) and young quick Suryansh Shedge (2/12) forced Chhattisgarh on the backfoot as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals with six batters managing single-digit scores.
Chasing a below-average score, Mumbai batters went into overdrive almost instantly with teenage opener Mhatre smashing three boundaries and five sixes, while senior partner Rahane hit three boundaries and two maximums.
By the time Chhattisgarh leg-spinner Shubham Agarwal got the better of Rahane, Mumbai were well on course for an easy win at 82/1.
In another match, India keeper-batter Sanju Samson came up with a fine knock of 73 not out from 56 balls but his efforts were not enough as Kerala suffered a crushing seven-wicket defeat against Andhra, who scored the required runs in just 12 overs and are almost assured of making it to the next round with five wins from six games -- the same as Mumbai.
Samson, who batted from start to finish, saw seven of his batters score in single-digit as Kerala managed only 119/7 in 20 overs, which was chased down in double quick time by Andhra.
Brief scores:
Chhattisgarh 121 in 19.4 overs (Shardul Thakur 3/19, Tushar Deshpande 2/38, Atharva Ankolekar 2/13, Suryansh Shedge 2/12) lost to Mumbai 123 for 2 in 15.5 overs (Ayush Mhatre 69 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 40; Shubham Agarwal 2/24) by 8 wickets.
Odisha 171 for 4 in 20 overs (Aashirwad Swain 51; Abdul Kuraishi 2/27) beat Assam 98 in 16 overs (Sumit Ghadigaonkar 43; Biplab Samantray 3/2, Badal Biswal 2/28) by 73 runs.
Kerala 119 for 7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 73; Satyanarayana Raju 2/24, Saurabh Kumar 2/18) lost to Andhra 123 for 3 in 12 overs (Srikar Bharat 53) by 7 wickets.
Puducherry stun Bengal
Spinners Jayant Yadav and Sidak Singh outshone out-of-favour India pacer Mohammed Shami with four and three wickets respectively as Puducherry stunned Bengal by 81 runs in a Group C match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Electing to field first, Bengal restricted Puducherry to 177 for 5 with veteran Shami taking three wickets for 34 runs from his four overs. He was well supported by off-spinner Writtick Chatterjee (2/53) while pacer Akash Deep went wicketless.
For Puducherry, captain Aman Khan top-scored with a strokeful 40-ball 74, studded with five fours and seven sixes, while Jashwanth Shreeram contributed 45.
Chasing 178 for a win, Bengal were bowled out for 96 in just 13.5 overs, with off-spinner Jayant taking four wickets for 28 runs from his four overs, while left-arm spinner Sidak returned with stunning figures of 3 for 9 from his three overs.
Adil Ayub Tunda and Aman Khan got one wicket each.
For Bengal, Karan Lal top-scored with 40 off 23 balls while his opening partner Abhishek Porel and captain Abhimanyu Easwaran made 11 and 12 respectively. All other Bengal batters could not reach double digit figures.
In another match, Gujarat beat Himachal Pradesh by one wicket in a thrilling last-ball finish.
Put in to bat, Himachal Pradesh made 193 for 8 with Mridul Surroch top-scoring with 88 off 48 deliveries. Opener Innesh Mahajan and Akash Vasisht chipped in with 36 and 49 respectively.
Harshal Patel, Arzan Nagwaswalla and Japagnya Bhatt took two wickets apiece for Gujarat.
Gujarat overhauled the target in the final ball of the run chase. Captain Urvil Patel (39), Aarya Desai (37) and Saurav Chauhan (35) made valuable contributions though no batter scored big.
For Himachal, Mridul Surroch was the most successful bowlers with three wickets for 45 runs.
Brief Scores:
Puducherry 177 for 5 in 20 overs (Aman Khan 74; Mohammed Shami 3/34) beat Bengal 96 all out in 13.5 overs (Jayant Yadav 4/28, Sidak Singh 3/9) by 81 runs.
Himachal Pradesh 193 for 8 in 20 overs (Mridul Surroch 88; Japagnya Bhatt 2/31) lost to Gujarat 194 for 9 in 20 overs (Urvil Patel 39; Mridul Surroch 3/45) by one wicket.
Jharkhand outclass TN
Kumar Kushagra and Virat Singh slammed quick half-centuries to power Jharkhand to a convincing 28-run victory against Tamil Nadu in their Elite Group D match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in Ahmedabad, on Saturday.
Put into bat, Jharkhand made a woeful start and slipped to 29 for 2 in the fifth over before Kushagra (84 off 48 balls) and Virat (72 off 39 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand from 64 balls to take the innings close to the 150 mark in the 15th over.
Virat and Anukul Roy then provided the late acceleration to propel Jharkhand to a strong 207 for 3 in their 20 overs.
Kushagra struck five fours and as many sixes, while Virat's innings was laced with 10 boundaries and two sixes.
In reply, Tamil Nadu stayed in contention in the first half of the chase, with Sai Sudharsan (64 off 42 balls) anchoring the effort as they reached 124 for 2 in the 14th over.
However, Sudharsan's run-out in the same over triggered a collapse, and Tamil Nadu failed to recover, finishing at 179 for 7. Sushant Mishra (2 for 51) and Bal Krishna (2 for 29) picked up two wickets apiece.
Brief scores:
Jharkhand 207 for 3 in 20 overs (Kumar Kushagra 84, Virat Singh 72; T Natarajan 1/36) beat Tamil Nadu 179 for 7 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 64; Bal Krishna 2/29) by 28 runs.
Saurashtra 178 for 8 in 20 overs (Vishvaraj Jadeja 40, Siddhant Rana 42; Vijaykumar Vyshak 3/28) beat Karnataka 177 for 9 in 20 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 66; Chetan Sakariya 2/37) by one run.
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