Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Suresh Raina fires UP to six-wicket win, Cheteshwar Pujara shines again for Saurashtra

Out of favour India batsman Suresh Raina smashed an unbeaten 54 off 35 balls to lead Uttar Pradesh to a six wicket win over Hyderabad in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy here on Friday. 

Opting to bat, Hyderbad could only mange 139 for 7 in 20 overs. Bavanaka Sandeep was the top scorer with 33 off 31 balls.

Uttar Pradesh captain Raina guided his team to victory in 18.3 overs after openers Upendra Yadav 25 and Samarth Singh 36 provided a steady start.

In another Group E game, openers Nakul Verma and Ravi Chauhan starred with the bat as Services registered a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Tripura.

Opting to bowl, Services restricted Tripura to 157 before Verma hit 73 off 45 balls and Chauhan, who was unbeaten on 62, overhauled the target with more than four overs to spare.

Earlier, Tripura openers Joydeep Banik and Udiyan Bose were dismissed off simultaneous deliveries. Saurabh Das (0) and Pratyush Singh (7) were also dismissed cheaply. 

Captain Manisankar Murasingh then scored a 52 off 40 balls to take his side to a respectable total after the middle order collapsed.

Playing at Palam A Stadium, Maharashtra beat Puducherry by eight wickets in a low scoring match.

Opting to bat, Puducherry could only manage a paltry 101 in 20 overs. Maharashtra's left-arm pacer Divyang Himganekar wreaked havoc returning with figures of 4-19. Paras Dogra was the top scorer for Puducherry with 32 runs.

For Maharashtra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (55 off 44 balls) and captain Naushad Shaikh (44 off 37) starred with the bat.

In another match, Baroda skipper Kedar Devdhar's 61 off 49 balls and Yusuf Pathan's unbeaten 47 went in vain as Uttrakhand registered a seven-wicket victory.

Set a target of 153, Uttrakhand's Saurabh Rawat (41) and Vaibhav Singh, who was unbeaten on 49, hit four boundaries and as many sixes to end the match with one over to spare.

Brief Scores:

At Palam Stadium: 

Services 158 for 2 in 16.5 overs (Nakul Verma 73, Ravi Chauhan 62 not out; Tushar Saha 1-37) beat Tripura 157 for 6 in 20 overs (Manisankar Murasingh 52, Ninad Kadam 32; Diwesh Pathania 2-19) by eight wicket.
 
Uttar Pradesh 143 for 4 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 54 not out, Samarth Singh 36; Ashish Reddy 4-33) beat Hyderabad 139 for 7 in 20 overs (Bavanaka Sandeep 33, Ambati Rayudu 29; Ankit Rajpoot 4-31) by six wickets.

Maharashtra 105 for 2 in 15.4 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 55, Naushad Shaikh 44; Pankaj Singh 2-18) beat Puducherry 101 for 6 in 20 overs (Paras Dogra 32, Thalaivan Sargunam 29; Divyang Himganekar 4-19) by eight wickets.

Uttrakhand 153 for 3 in 19 overs (Vaibhav Singh 49, Saurabh Rawat 41; Rishi Athore 1-13) beat Baroda 152 for 5 in 20 overs (Kedar Devdhar 61, Yusuf Pathan 47 not out; Sunny Rana 2-27) by seven wickets.

In another Group C game, Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, who had hit an unbeaten 100 in 61 balls against Railways on Thursday, continued his good form as he scored 68 to help Saurashtra defeat Madhya Pradesh by 6 wickets. This was Saurashtra's first win in the tournament.

On Thursday, Mumbai had kicked-off their campaign on awinning note, thrashing minnows Sikkim by a staggering 154 runs.

Asked to bat first, Punjab bowlers led by medium pacer Baltej Singh (3-30) and left-arm seamer Barinder Singh Sran (3-34) dished out a clinical performance as they bundled out a formidable Mumbai for a modest 155 in their 20 overs on Friday.

Surya Kumar Yadav was Mumbai's top-scorer as he hit a quick-fire 80 in just 49 balls. Earlier, skipper Ajinkya Rahane (0) and young prodigy Prithvi Shaw (8) had another failure with the bat as Mumbai slumped to 8-2 early on.

But in-form Shreyas Iyer (46), who had made a record-breaking 147 against Sikkim, and Yadav stitched a crucial 126-run stand for the third wicket.

While Iyer hammered four fours and three shots over the fence, Yadav struck nine boundaries and four sixes in his stroke-filled innings at the Emerald Heights International
School Ground.

After Iyer's dismissal, `crisis man' Siddhesh Lad went for a duck and then Mumbai lost wickets in a heap and eventually folded up for 155.

Unheralded 18-year-old Punjab opener Prabhsimran Singh, who has been picked by IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, gave Mumbai a scare with a blazing 54 in just 20 balls, an
innings studded with six boundaries and four sixes.

But he lacked support from his opening partner Shubhman Gill (1) and one down Mandeep Singh (5). Gurkeerat Mann (24) got a start but failed to convert it into a big score.

All other Punjab batsmen, including veteran Yuvraj Singh, had an off-day in office as their innings folded up at 120 in 18.2 overs.

With the win, Mumbai added four more points to their kitty. Kulkarni (4-22) was ably supported by Shubham Ranjane (2-14), while Shams Mulani (1-26), Shardul Thakur (1-42) and Tushar Deshpande (1-15) picked a wicket each to fashion Mumbai's victory.

Brief scores: Group C: At Indore (Emeralds High School Ground): Mumbai 155 all out (Surya Kumar Yadav 80, Shreyas Iyer 46; Baltej Singh 3-30) won against Punjab 120 all out (Prabhsimran Singh 54, Gurkeerat Mann 24; Dhawal Kulkarni 4-22) by 35 runs.
Mumbai 4 points, Punjab 0 points.

At Indore (Holkar Stadium): Sikkim 100/8 (Bibek 22, Palzor 19; Lakshay Garg 3-14, Darshan Misal 2-19) lost to Goa 104/2 (Sagun Kamat 50 not out, Amit Verma 23; Luitel 1-16) by 8 wickets.
Goa 4 points, Sikkim 0 points.

Madhya Pradesh 138 all out (Parth Sahani 49, Abhishek Bhandari 30; Chetan Sakariya 4-38, Jaydev Unadkat 3-19) lostto Saurashtra 139/4 (Cheteshwar Pujara 68, H Desai 56; Ishwar Chandra Pandey 2-26) by six wickets.
Saurashtra 4 points, MP 0 points.

Group B: At Surat: Bihar 103/8 (Babul Kumar 27, Rahmat Ullah 18; Yash Thakur 2-12, Akshay Karnewar 2-17) lost toVidarbha 104/3 (S U Srivastava 49 not out, R L Jangid 27 not out; Vivek 2-27) by seven wickets.
Vidarbha 4 points, Bihar 0 points.

Himachal Pradesh 207/4 (A K Bains 68, P S Chopra 53; Neetesh Sharma 1-17) won against Meghalaya 142/6 (Gurinder Singh 49 not out, Yogesh Nagar 44; Ankit Rajan Maini 3-24) by 65 runs. 
Himachal 4 points, Meghalaya 0 points.