Experienced campaigner Unmukt Chand’s well-crafted half-century enabled Delhi trounce Rajasthan by 41 runs and lift its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Eden Gardens here on Friday.
Electing to bat in the T20 tournament final, Ranji Trophy runner-up Delhi scored a challenging 153 for six and wrapped up the Rajasthan innings for 112 to make a big impression on the eve of the Indian Premier League auction.
Delhi got to a flying start as Rishabh Pant and Gambhir opened their arms early. Despite the absence of its star medium-pacer Deepak Chahar, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, Rajasthan wrested control when leg-spinner Rahul Chahar castled Gambhir (27, 23b, 4x4, 1x6) in the fifth over.
Pant skied left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed to wicketkeeper Chetan Bist in the following over and Delhi needed to consolidate at 41 for two.
Unmukt, who could not open his account on his return to the Delhi XI against Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, rose to the occasion as he saw off a rough patch.
Playing the big shots
The seasoned batsman showed a lot of determination as he rotated the strike and played some big shots too. His 49-ball 53 had four boundaries and two sixes over midwicket.
Unmukt’s patient 48-run stand with Dhruv Shorey (21, 14b, 2x6) put Delhi in a good position.
Unmukt was on 48 when he was caught off a skilful Khaleel in the 18th over, but the delivery, the second bouncer in the over, was called a no ball by the third umpire.
Before being adjudged lbw off Khaleel in the final over, Unmukt helped Delhi get close to 150. Rajasthan bowlers’ tidy performance denied Delhi from posting a bigger total.
Promising opener Aditya Garhwal, who had attracted attention with his triple century against Saurashtra in the C.K. Nayudu Trophy in November, did justice to his talent to lead Rajasthan’s reply.
The stylish right-hander hit some lovely boundaries, including a few to the midwicket fence and was solely responsible for keeping Rajasthan’s run-chase under control for a considerable period.
Garhwal’s maiden T20 half-century (52, 36b, 8x4) ended in the 12th over when he was caught at long-on, trying to hit off-spinner Lalit Yadav out of the ground.
Delhi skipper Pradeep Sangwan, who took two important wickets to be named ‘Man-of-the- Match’, rotated his bowlers commendably to maintain pressure as Rajasthan lost wickets in quick intervals following the departure of Garhwal and fell way short of the target.
The scores: Delhi 153 for six in 20 overs (Unmukt Chand 53, Gautam Gambhir 27, Khaleel Ahmed two for 23, Rahul Chahar two for 31) bt Rajasthan 112 in 19.1 overs (Aditya Garhwal 52, Pradeep Sangwan two for 14, Pawan Negi two for 21, Kulwant Khejroliya two for 24).
