Madhya Pradesh pulled off a surprising nine-run win over defending champion Punjab in a gaggle ‘A’ fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on the Niranjan Shah Stadium right here on Wednesday.
Punjab wanted 38 runs off the ultimate 4 overs when Kumar Kartikeya had Nehal Wadhera caught on the midwicket boundary. Two balls later, the tweaker had Anmolpreet Singh chipping straight to square-leg.
Within the subsequent over, Arpit Gaud plucked a surprising catch of Ramandeep Singh at deep midwicket off Arshad Khan, who later cleaned up Harpreet Brar.
Sanvir Singh hit 22 off 14 to get Punjab shut however MP’s bowlers held their nerve and closed the sport.
Until the thirteenth over, Punjab was cruising. Abhishek Sharma struck a 36-ball 61, crammed with trendy photographs and onerous punches. He obtained good help from Prabhsimran Singh – the duo added 52 runs within the first 5 overs – after which Naman Dhir, who struck 39 off 27.
Issues modified when Kartikeya had Abhishek caught and Tripuresh Singh grabbed a surprising return catch two overs later to ship again Dhir.
Put in to bat, Madhya Pradesh had a poor begin, shedding Gaud and Subhransu Senapati within the second over. Whereas Gaud was trapped in entrance by Abhishek, Senapati was caught in a mix-up with Abhishek Pathak.
Pathak struck two big sixes off Arshdeep Singh and Abhishek, however within the hunt for one more most, he was caught off the left-arm spinner.
Madhya Pradesh hit again, with captain Rajat Patidar main from the entrance alongside Harpreet Singh Bhatia because the duo shared a 112-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Patidar hit some lovely photographs: lofted punches off the backfoot, late cuts, slogs on the leg-side, and pulls. Bhatia, on the opposite finish, saved switching between enjoying with tender palms that allowed him to take twos, and onerous hits by way of which he discovered the fence.
It took a superb high-jumping catch by wicketkeeper Prabhsimran off Ramandeep to interrupt the partnership. Patidar tried an uppercut off the medium-pacer however couldn’t discover sufficient elevation and Prabhsimran plucked a one-handed stunner.
Bhatia batted for 2 extra overs however was caught at long-on off Baltej Singh, who additionally eliminated Arshad Khan in the identical over. Venkatesh Iyer discovered it troublesome to attach the ball however hit a six and a 4 within the last over to get MP to a combating whole.