Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, Group E: 3 top bowling performances on Friday
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 got underway on Thursday and today, the Elite Group E saw Delhi take on Chandigarh, Hyderabad face off against Uttarakhand and Saurashtra go up against Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi, who beat Uttarakhand in their opening match, put on another good performance to come out on top against Chandigarh. Hyderabad also registered their second win of the season, as Uttarakhand suffered their second straight defeat.
Saurashtra, who lost to Hyderabad in a close encounter in their first match, opened their account in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beating Uttar Pradesh in a thriller.
After Chandigarh scored 144/8, Delhi rode on captain Nitish Rana's quickfire fifty to chase down the target with ease.
Meanwhile, skipper Tanmay Agarwal's brilliant unbeaten 97 powered Hyderabad to 167/5 and they bowled out Uttarakhand for 106 to notch a big win. Elsewhere, Saurashtra successfully defended their total of 147/7 with just two runs to spare to bring up their first win of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Hyderabad lead the Group E table with eight points while Delhi are in second place due to a lower Net Run Rate (NRR). Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra both have four points each while Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh are yet to open their accounts in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Here are the top three bowling displays from Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group E today
#3 Chama Milind (5/16)
Left-arm seamer Chama Milind followed Hyderabad captain Tanmay Agarwal's 97-run knock with a brilliant five-wicket haul to help bowl Uttarakhand out for 106 and give his team a 61-run win. In doing so, Milind became the first player to get a five-wicket haul for Hyderabad in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Hyderabad had earlier posted 167/5 riding on Agarwal's 59-ball 97*. Milind then ran through the Uttarakhand batting order, starting with opener Jay Bista and No. 3 Kunal Chandela in the fifth over.
Milind then came back in the death to end the opponents' resistance. Mohammed Nazim and Vijay Jethi then fell victim to him in the 17th over and he finished Uttarakhand's lone warrior Vijay Jethi's stay at the crease in the 19th to wrap up the win.
#2 Dikshanshu Negi (2/18)
Medium-pacer Dikshanshu Negi bowled an economical spell of 2/18 for Uttarakhand against Hyderabad but ended up on the losing side. Negi played a key role as Hyderabad's batting order failed to really fire, with only Tanmay Agarwal's 97* rescuing them and powering them to 167/5.
Negi got the wickets of Tilak Varma and Rohit Rayudu. But more than the wickets, it was his economy rate that was important. Apart from him, all the other bowlers who bowled more than a single over had an economy rate of 7.50 or more. Meanwhile, Negi was relatively miserly with an economy rate of 4.50.
If Agarwal's stunning knock wasn't enough, Chama Milind's five-wicket haul consigned Uttarakhand to a big defeat despite Negi's best efforts.
#1 Pradeep Sangwan (2/22)
Delhi pacer Pradeep Sangwan bowled a very good spell of two wickets for just 22 runs in his four overs to help restrict Chandigarh to 144/8.
The veteran pacer was economical and well supported by Navdeep Saini. Sangwan picked his two wickets at the death, sending back Gurinder Singh and Jaskaran Singh in the 19th over.
Despite putting on a 79-run opening stand, Chandigarh could not post a big enough total. Anuj Rawan then scored 44 for Delhi, before their captain Nitish Rana went on a six-hitting blitz to help them chase the target down in 17.2 overs.