Haryana experienced the roller-coaster nature of T20 cricket in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, recovering from an opening defeat against Goa to post a rousing six-wicket win over defending champion Gujarat at the SCA stadium here on Wednesday.
The players in blue were the same, but the attitude had changed in the visitors camp. The Haryana bowlers were left reeling early on after the Gujarat strokeplayers went on a rampage, hitting 14 fours and three sixes in a total of 146 for seven.
The batsmen, however, responded to the challenge by lashing 13 fours and three sixes, and pulled the team across the finish line with three balls to spare (150 for four in 19.3 overs).
Captain Rahul Dewan (36, 42b, 2x4) and Avi Barot (56, 37b, 8x4, 1x6) showed the way in a 94-run first wicket partnership.
Incidentally, Barot resides in Ahmedabad and represented Gujarat last season in domestic cricket before switching states in quest for more first-class opportunities.
Gujarat captain Smit Patel was dismissed early when Joginder Sharma latched on to a blinder in his follow-through. The former charged out to break the shackles after scoring just one run in seven balls, but was forced to walk back to the pavilion. Priyank Panchal (36, 31b, 5x4) stepped up to take responsibility along with the lower-order as Gujarat recovered from skipper Patel’s abrupt exit to amass a healthy 146.
Panchal changed the dressing room mood with five crisp boundaries as the innings took off from there — the host hammered 66 in the last six overs after being 80 for four.
Himalay Barad (48, 38b, 2x4, 3x6), Chirag Gandhi (16, 11b) and Jay Desai (14, 10b) also chipped in during this phase.
UP beats JharkhandIn an earlier Group A tie, Mukul Dagar, a former India under-19 player, slammed 10 boundaries in a 45-ball 63 as he set the stage for Uttar Pradesh’s eight-wicket victory over Jharkhand. This was the latter’s second consecutive loss.
Apart from Dagar, another India under-19 performer Akshdeep Nath delivered for UP with three wickets.
The scores:
Jharkhand 114 for six in 20 overs (Ishank Jaggi 39, Sandeep Gupta 28; Akshdeep Nath three for 20) lost to Uttar Pradesh 120 for two in 14.4 overs (Mukul Dagar 63, Eklavya Dwivedi 37).
UP 4, Jharkhand 0 .
Gujarat 146 for seven in 20 overs (Priyank Panchal 36, Himalay Barad 48; Joginder Sharma two for 24, Ashish Hooda two for 23) lost to Haryana 150 for four in 19.3 overs (Avi Barot 56, Rahul Dewan 36, Nitin Saini 27 n.o.; Jay Desai three for 30).
Haryana 4, Gujarat 0 .
