Ajinkya Rahane's unbeaten 72 and Sarfaraz Khan's brutal 22-ball 73 powered Mumbai to a three-wicket victory over Rajasthan in their Super League Group B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in Pune on Tuesday.
Rahane scored 72 off 41 balls (7 fours, 3 sixes) but it was Sarfaraz who went all guns blazing in yet another chase in excess of 200, clobbering seven sixes and six fours to make 73 off only 22 balls.
Chasing 217, Mumbai never took the foot off the pedal and despite losing wickets in a heap they remained on track for another commanding win, overhauling the target with 11 balls to spare with Rahane anchoring the pursuit.
Mumbai were undeterred in chase despite losing Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) after a 41-run opening stand with Rahane, who then teamed up with Sarfaraz to put on another 111 off only 39 balls for the second wicket.
Sarfaraz fell to Manav Suthar (4-0-23-3) after a whirlwind knock laden with powerful hits down the ground which saw Mumbai stutter as they lost wickets in heaps.
While Angkrish Raghuvanshi (0) and all-rounders Sairaj Patil (4), Suryansh Shedge (10) and skipper Shardul Thakur (2) failed to give Rahane the support, he found it in Atharva Ankolekar.
Coming in at No 8, Ankolekar hit three sixes and a four to make a nine-ball 26 which put Mumbai on top again, and Rahane took the defending champions over the finish line with Shams Mulani (4 not out) in company.
Earlier, Rajasthan had posted a formidable 216 for four batting first riding on half-centuries from Deepak Hooda (51 off 31 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes) and Mukul Choudhary (54 not out off 28 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes).
Tushar Deshpande had rocked Rajasthan early when he dismissed RM Chouhan for four, but opener Ramnivas Golada (48 off 29 balls, 3 fours, 3 sixes) found a strong support in Hooda, who was in his elements.
Mahipal Lomror sent the ball flying over the ropes four times in his 24-ball 39, while Choudhary's late assault took Rajasthan past the 200-run mark.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan 216/4 in 20 overs (Ramnivas Golada 48, Deepak Hooda 51, Mukul Choudhary 54 not out; Sairaj Patil 1/31) lost to Mumbai 217/7 in 18.1 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 72 not out, Sarfaraz Khan 73; Manav Suthar 3/23) by 3 wickets.
Jharkhand reach Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final despite loss to Andhra
Jharkhand sealed a spot in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final by topping Super League Group A, despite suffering a nine-run loss to Andhra Pradesh here on Tuesday.
The final Super League Group A match produced a combined 397 runs, the highest match aggregate in T20s involving the two teams.
Asked to bat, Andhra produced a collective effort to post 203 for 7 in their stipulated 20 overs and then restricted Jharkhand to 194 for 8 to register a consolation win.
However, the victory was not enough as Jharkhand finished atop the table with a net run rate of +0.221, while Andhra ended with -0.113.
Nitish Kumar Reddy emerged as the standout performer for Andhra, smashing a 22-ball 45 and later returning figures of 2 for 32.
Andhra raced to 61 in the first five overs with openers Srikar Bharat (35) and Ashwin Hebbar (30) going hard early on.
After Ashwin Hebbar and M Hemanth Reddy were dismissed in the space of nine balls, Nitish joined the attack, striking six fours and two sixes as Andhra reached 134 for 4 in the 13th over, having lost Bharat in the 10th.
Skipper Ricky Bhui contributed a run-a-ball 19, while Pyla Avinash (20) and Saurabh Kumar (16) added valuable runs to help Andhra cross the 200-mark.
In reply, Jharkhand were well placed with skipper Ishan Kishan (35) and Virat (77 off 40 balls) forging an 88-run stand in just 6.5 overs.
However, a late collapse saw them lose their last four wickets for 24 runs, falling short of the target.
Venkatesh Iyer's half-ton in vain as Punjab beat Madhya Pradesh
Out-of-favour India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer made an impactful half-century for Madhya Pradesh but couldn't stop Punjab from winning the inconsequential Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League Group A tie by two wickets in Ambi, Pune on Tuesday.
Interestingly, Venkatesh's knock came hours before he was set to go under the hammer at the mini IPL auction in Abu Dhabi.
With Venkatesh in full flow at the top, the soon-to-be 31 scored a 43-ball 70 studded with eight boundaries and two sixes as Madhya Pradesh scored a stiff 225 for 8. However, young Harnoor Singh made quite a statement with his 36-ball 64 as he gave Punjab the momentum that led them to a thrilling win in 19.1 overs.
Billed as an all-rounder, Venkatesh was only given one over by his skipper Rajat Patidar in which he gave away 12 runs.
This was the first win for both the sides in three games, leaving them out of contention for a place in the final from Group A.
Venkatesh's half-century, which came just a couple of hours before the IPL mini-auction in Abu Dhabi, set the platform for the big total after their innings faltered with opener Harsh Gawli (7), Harpreet Singh (27) and skipper Rajat Patidar (20) going cheaply.
At 93 for 3, a 200-plus scored looked a far cry but Venkatesh pulled out all stop to give a big push to the scorecard. Venkatesh's dismissal in the 17th over came after he had stitched together a 63-run stand with Aniket Verma (31) for the fifth wicket.
Late-order batters Mangesh Yadav (28 off 12 balls) and Tripuresh Singh (11 off 4) then took the total past 200.
Punjab's innings too faltered with skipper Prabhsimran Singh (9) going early but Harnoor and one-down batter Anmolpreet Singh (38 off 14 balls) steadied the ship after which Salil Arora (50 off 29 balls) played an innings littered with five sixes to take his team closer to the target.
Ramandeep Singh then completed the formalities with a well-made unbeaten 35.
Brief scores:
Andhra 203 for 7 in 20 overs (Nitish Kumar Reddy 45; Anukul Roy 2/30) beat Jharkhand 194 for 8 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 77; Nitish Reddy 2/32, Saurabh Kumar 2/21) by nine runs.
Madhya Pradesh 225 for 8 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 70; Gurnoor Brar 3/45, Ramandeep Singh 2/23).
Punjab 226 for 8 in 19.1 overs (Harnoor Singh 64, Anmolpreet Singh 38, Salil Arora 50; Shivam Shukla 3/39, Mangesh Yadav 2/38).
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