Mohammed Shami Sets Up Bengal’s Win In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

India’s star pacer Mohammed Shami set up Bengal’s comfortable win against Meghalaya with a measly spell in their Group A contest in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy here on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Naman Dhir returned excellent figures of 5/19 to fashion Punjab’s narrow seven-run win against Hyderabad in Group A, while Jharkhand recorded a thrilling one-wicket victory against Haryana in which Harshal Patel (2/16) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/13) shone with the ball.

Shami continued to take giant strides in his comeback trail as he produced a sharp spell of 4-0-16-0 to help Bengal restrict Meghalaya to a modest 127 for six.

Bengal won by six wickets and 49 balls to spare at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.

Arien Sangma (37) and Larry Sangma (38) staged a recovery for Meghalaya with the bat.

In reply, Bengal stuttered when three of their batters got out for ducks but Abhisek Porel’s 31-ball 61, with nine fours and two sixes, combined with Writtick Chatterjee’s 25 not out, took them past the target.

Brief scores: Meghalaya 127/6 in 20 overs (Arien Sangma 37, Larry Sangma 38; Prayas Ray Barman 2/22) lost to Bengal 128/4 in 11.5 overs (Abhishek Porel 61*, Karan Lal 42, Writtick Chatterjee 25*; Himan Phukan 2/12) by 6 wickets.

In a Group B clash in Indore, Gujarat’s Axar Patel (4-0-19-2) and Ravi Bishnoi (4-1-16-1) kept it tight against Sikkim to help their team win by six wickets and three overs to spare.

After Sikkim crawled to 101 for six in their 20 overs, Gujarat lost wickets in heap from one end but opener Aarya Desai’s unbeaten 47 took them over the line at the Holkar Cricket Stadium.

Sikkim fought back with Lee Yong Lepcha and Parth Palawat taking a couple of wickets each as Gujarat stuttered in their chase, but Desai’s resolute knock from one end held the fort. Desai hit six boundaries to make 47 off 48 balls.

Brief scores: Sikkim 101/6 in 20 overs (Nilesh Lamichaney 35, Ashish Thapa 23; Axar Patel 2/19, Ravi Bishnoi 1/16) lost to Gujarat 102/4 in 17 overs (Aarya Desai 47*, Saurav Chauhan 25*; Lee Yong Lepcha 2/18, Parth Palawat 2/10) by 6 wickets.

Baroda’s four-match winning run ended in the tournament when Saurashtra hammered them by 78 runs in their Group B contest at the Holkar Stadium.

Baroda played the match without their India all-rounder Hardik Pandya and seemed to have missed his services dearly, with Saurashtra blazing their way to a mammoth 266 for six batting first.

Harvik Desai (76, 39 balls, 9x4s, 4x6s), Ruchit Ahir (57, 30 balls, 3x4s, 5x6s) and Jay Gohil (53, 18 balls, 2x4s, 6x6s) powered Saurashtra to the massive total as Baroda looked clueless.

Baroda skipper Krunal Pandya was hammered for 59 runs without any success in his four overs.

In reply, none of the Baroda batters could really get a big score with opener Shashwat Rawat’s 38 being the highest individual total. Baroda made 188 for eight in their reply.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 266/6 in 20 overs (Harvik Desai 76, Ruchit Ahir 57, Jay Gohil 53; Atit Sheth 3/44) beat Baroda 188/8 in 20 overs (Shashwat Rawat 38, Vishnu Solanki 34; Ankur Panwar 3/35).