Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan make short work of Haryana in a high-scoring Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League match.
Ignored by the national selectors for T20 set-up, Yashasvi Jaiswal sent another stern reminder to the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee with a blistering 48-ball century as defending champions Mumbai crushed Haryana by four wickets in a high-scoring Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League B match, in Ambi, Pune, on Sunday.
Having tamely surrendered to Hyderabad in the opening Super League game, which severely impacted their Net Run Rate, Jaiswal (101 off 50 balls) and Sarfaraz Khan (64 off 24 balls) came out all guns blazing to chase down a stiff target of 235 set by Haryana in 17.3 overs and keep their chances of qualifying for the summit clash alive.
The pair added 88 runs in just 6.1 overs to make a difficult chase look like a walk in the park.
During post-match presentation ceremony, Jaiswal requested his teammate Sarfaraz to join him while collecting the ‘Player of The Match’ cheque of Rs 50,000.
When Haryana skipper Ankit Kumar (89 off 42 balls) and talented all-rounder Nishant Sindhu (63 no off 38 balls) added 110 runs in only 8.1 overs, little did they expect the carnage that was to follow.
Veteran Ajinkya Rahane (21 off 10 balls) started in earnest with Jaiswal giving new-ball bowler Anshul Kamboj (1/63 in 4 overs) and left-armer Ishant Bhardwaj (1/56 in 3 overs) the charge, hitting both of them for sixes and boundaries galore.
The problem with all the Haryana quicks was their pace hovered around 125 to 130 kmph range, which was exactly what the doctored ordered for Mumbai on a placid track.
Their half-volleys were driven, short balls sat up nicely for Jaiswal to play the pull-shots and ramp shots over third man. Jaiswal hit 16 fours, five off Kamboj alone and a six.
Once Sarfaraz came in, he did his IPL auction cause no harm with some cheeky ramps and audacious lap shots off Bhardwaj, obviously the left-arm military medium bowler's lack of pace helping him all the way.
When Sarfaraz gave the charge and completed his 50 off 16 balls, Jaiswal quite rightly played the second fiddle but once the burly man was gone, the left-hander took charge to finish the game in a jiffy.
With Shubman Gill's form not inspiring confidence of the highest order, Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir might just be tempted to have one last look at Jaiswal during the series against New Zealand T20Is before the start of the global event.
Tanmay guides Hyderabad to big win against Rajasthan
Hyderabad's batting stalwart Tanmay Agarwal and Rahul Buddhi cracked half-centuries while India pacer Mohammed Siraj took two wickets as they beat Rajasthan by six wickets to notch their second consecutive Super League victory.
Hyderabad are leading Group B with eight points after two wins. They are followed by Haryana and Mumbai, who are on four points each. Rajasthan have yet to open their account.
Chasing Rajasthan's 178/9, built around Mahipal Lomror's 35-ball 48, left-handed batter Tanmay struck a 41-ball 73 while Buddhi hit 55 off 36 balls as Hyderabad reached the target for the loss of four wickets in 17.1 overs.
Siraj gave an impactful performance returning figures of 2/23 while Chama Milind and Tanay Thyagarajan took three wickets each as Hyderabad managed to tie down Rajasthan to a manageable total.
The chase was made smooth with Tanmay and Buddhi partnering for a 95-run stand for the third wicket, which set the platform for the easy win.
Brief Scores:
Haryana 234/3 in 20 overs (Ankit Kumar 89, Nishant Sindhu 63 no, Sairaj Patil 2/44) lost to Mumbai 238/6 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 101 no, Sarfaraz Khan 64, Anshul Kamboj 1/63).
Rajasthan: 178 for 9 in 20 overs (Mahipal Lomror 48; Mohammed Siraj 2/23, Chama Milind 3/25, Tanay Thyagarajan 3/38) lost to Hyderabad 179/4 in 17.1 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 73, Rahul Buddhi 55).
Hemanth Reddy's ton guides Andhra to thrilling win against Punjab
Young Andhra batter Hemanth Reddy proved way too strong-willed in the face of some hostile bowling from Punjab as he smashed an unbeaten 109 to lead his side to a thrilling five-wicket win in a high-scoring Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League A match, in Pune on Sunday.
Reddy, playing only his second career SMAT game, saw the entire Andhra top and middle order being wiped out and leaving them perilously close to defeat at 56 for 5 while chasing 206 for victory.
But the 23-year-old, who has played most of his cricket in the Andhra Premier League, came up with his career-best performance, blazing to a 53-ball 109, studded with 11 boundaries and seven sixes as Andhra reached 211/5 on the penultimate ball of the match.
Tall Punjab pacer Gurnoor Brar (3/23) made life difficult for Andhra batters, removing openers Srikar Bharat (1) and Ashwin Hebbar (4) in the very first over, reducing the opponents to seven or two.
Brar, a former net bowler for five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians who was bought for Rs 1.3 crore by Gujarat Titans ahead of the 2025 season, struck again in the fifth over by dismissing Andhra skipper Ricky Bhui (15).
In between, pacer Ayush Goyal also got the wicket of India all-rounder Nithish Kumar Reddy as Andhra reeled at 4/35, which quickly became 5/56 in the ninth over.
Needing someone who could really thwack the Punjab bowlers and also play a sensible innings, Reddy stepped up.
Coming in at No.3, Reddy, who last played a Ranji Trophy group match against Hyderabad without much success at the top of the batting order, negotiated the early overs with caution before blasting off even as he saw wickets crumbling at the other end.
He finally got a reliable partner in SD Prasad (53 not out off 35 balls) and the pair stitched together an unbeaten 155-run stand for the six wicket to guide Andhra home.
The thrilling win put Andhra's campaign back on track following their four-wicket loss to Madhya Pradesh in a low-scoring match, while Punjab can say goodbye to their SMAT campaign this season after their six-wicket defeat against Jharkhand in a high-scoring game.
For Nitish Kumar, this was a second successive disappointing show after his 25 against Madhya Pradesh.
Earlier, Harnoor Singh (42) and skipper Prabhsimran Singh (20) gave Punjab a promising start. Anmolpreet Singh (47), Salil Arora (42) and Ramandeep Singh (43) then made useful contributions as Punjab managed a competitive 200-plus total.
Brief Scores:
Punjab: 205 for 5 in 20 overs (Harnoor Singh 42, Anmolpreet Singh 47, Salil Arora 42, Ramandeep Singh 43) vs Andhra: 211 for 5 in 19.5 overs (M Hemanth Reddy 109 not out, SDNV Prasad 53 not out; Gurnoor Brar 3/23).
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