JOIN USOpener Unmukt Chand’s 58-ball 103 went in vain as Priyank Kirit Panchal’s unbeaten fifty helped Gujarat outplay Delhi by eight wickets in the Super League phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Group ‘B’ match here on Friday.
Put into bat at the Bandra Kurla Complex, Delhi lost a couple of quick wickets including skipper Gautam Gambhir for a duck only to see Unmukt and Aditya Kaushik (23) stitch a 54-run third wicket stand to help the side post a competitive 170 for five, which was later chased down by Gujarat in 17.3 overs.
Dhruv Shorey also went back wihtout scoring as he was caught and bowled by Hardik Patel. Kaushik’s wicket was the result of a splendid catch by Panchal as Nitesh Rana (9) also disappointed.
Dominant batting
Unmukt, who became only the third Indian batsman to score three T20 centuries, took centerstage as he blasted eight fours and five sixes in his dominating display of the willow.
Milind Kumar (19 not out) and Pawan Negi (13 not out) also provided late entertainment in the Delhi innings.
Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel (42) then led from the front to provide a solid 78-run opening stand with Panchal (68 not out).
Parthiv, who struck five fours and two sixes in his 28-ball knock, lost his cool in the ninth over as Panchal carried on the good work with new man Manpreet Juneja (38). Panchal remained unconquered on his 44-ball innings laced with eight fours and a six.
Brief scores: Group A: Vidarbha: 162/5 in 20 overs (Jitesh Sharma 35, Ganesh Satish 54, Apoorv Wankhede 40; Swapnil Singh 2-41) lt to Baroda: 168/4 in 19 overs (Hardik Pandya 86 n.o., Irfan Pathan 26 not out; Ravi Jangid 2-36). Baroda: 4 points; Vidarbha: 0 point.
Kerala: 160/7 in 20 overs (Rohan Prem 69, Sachin Baby 32; Dhawal Kulkarni 2-29, Sagar Trivedi 3-34) lt to Mumbai: 164/4 in 19.1 overs (Aditya Tare 71, Siddhesh Lad 36, Abhishek Nayar 38; U Manukrishnan 2-36). Mumbai: 4; Kerala: 4.
Group B:Delhi: 170/5 in 20 overs (Unmukt Chand 103) lt to Gujarat: 171/2 in 17.3 overs (Priyank Panchal 68 n.o., Parthiv Patel 42). Gujarat: 4; Delhi: 0.
Jharkhand: 133/7 in 20 overs (Shasheem Rathour 40, Saurabh Tiwary 38, Ishank Jaggi 26 n.o.; Amit Mishra 2-14) lt to Uttar Pradesh: 134/1 in 16.5 overs (Prashant Gupta 42, Samarth Singh 64). Uttar Pradesh: 4; Jharkhand: 0.