Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami’s first white ball outing since 2023 World Cup final was below par but Bengal survived a fine all-round effort by Arshdeep Singh to eke out a four-wicket win over Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Saturday. (More Cricket News)
Shami returned with figures of 4-0-46-1 in Punjab’s total of 179 all out in 19.4 ov❀ers.
The Bengal man earlier made his red-ball return in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Indor🐈e and was impressive while picking up seven wickets.
Abhishek Sharma (18 off 8 balls) did not fire but Prabhsimran Singh (35, 19 balls), Anmolpreet Singh (39 21 balls) and Arshdeep (23 not ☂out, 11 balls) chipped in for Punjab.
Karan Lal took three wickets for Bengal.
In reply, Shahbaz Ahmed made a 49-ball 100 as Bengal overcame a good spell by pacer Arshdeep (2/21 in 3 overs) to reach the target w꧒i🃏th an over to spare.
Hardik Fires Baroda To Win
All-rounder Hardik Pandya ham🐻mered a 74 off 35 baꩲlls (6x4, 5x6) as Baroda scored a five-wicket win over Gujarat.
Earlier, Hardik also took a wicket while conceding 37 runs in four ov൲ers as Gujarat made 184 for five.
Axar Patel made an unbea⛎ten 43 off 33 balls.
But in bowling, the India left-arm 🐈spinner could not pick up any wicket while giving away 31 runs in his full quota of overs.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets.
Rinku’s 70 In Vain
India left-hander Rinku Singh made 70 off 38 balls (8x4, 4x6) but Uttar Pradesh failed to chas𝔍e down Delhi’s mammoth 233 for three.
UP made 186 for eight.
Nitish Rana’s 42-ball 61 too went in vain. Former India pacer Ishan🍌t Sharma was impressive while taking two wickets for just 23 runs in four overs.
For Dꦍelhi, Priyansh Arya (102, 43🦹 balls, 5x4 10x6) and Himmat Singh (77 not out, 34 balls, 4x4, 6x6) were the main run-makers.
Samson Propels Kerala
Skipper Sanju Samson’s 75 (45 balls, 10x4, 3x6) was enough for Kerala to ward off an exceptional four for seven in three overs by Pulkit Na🐠rang to chase down Services’ 149 for nin༺e in 18.1 overs.
Brief Scores:
Group🌸 A: At Rajkot: Punjab: 179 all out in 19.4 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 35, Anmolpreet Singh 39, Arshdeep 23; Karan Lal 3/23) lost to Bengal: 181/6 in 19 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 100 not out, Arshdeep Singh 2/21, Abhishek Sharma 3/37) by 4 wickets.
Group B: At Indore: Gujarat: 184/5 in 20 overs (Aarya Desai 78, Axar Patel 43 not out; Hardik Pandya 1/37, Atit Sheth 2/31) lost to Baroda: 188/5 in 19.4 overs (Hardik Pandya 74 not out, Shivalik Sharma 64;𒁃 Ravi Bishnoi 2/23) by 5 wickets.
Group C: At Mumbai: Delhi: 233/3 in 20 overs (Pri🗹yansh Arya 102, Himmat Singh 77 not out, Bhunveshwar Kumar 1/29) beat UP: 186/8 in 20 overs (Rinku Singh 70, Nitish Rana 61; Ishant Sharma 2/23) by 47 runs.
Group E: At Hyderabad: Services: 149/9 in 20 overs (Mohit A🌟hlawat 41; Akhil Scaria 5/30) lost to Kerala: 153/ in 18.1 overs (Sanju Samson 75; Pulkit Narang 4/7) by 3 wickets.