File photo – Varun Aaron helped Jharkhand defend a modest total after his team was all out for 125 © Associated Press
Four-fors from Varun Aaron (4-20) and medium-pacer Rahul Shukla (4-32) helped Jharkhand defend a total of 125 to beat Saurashtra by 42 runs at Eden Gardens. Saurashtra’s chase lasted only 25.1 overs with all ten wickets falling to pace. Aaron prised out key wickets in the middle order, before Shukla and left-arm seamer Jaskaran Singh cleaned up the tail.
Like Saurashtra, Jharkhand, too, lost all their wickets to pace. Kushang Patel carved up the top order, first getting the early wicket of opener Anand Singh and then breaking a 43-run, second-wicket stand to trigger a Jharkhand slump in which they lost nine wickets for 64. Kushang, who was on a hat-trick in the 10th over, finished with 4 for 39, while Shaurya Sanandia cleaned up the lower order for career-best returns of 5 for 47. Jharkhand were propped up by a 40-ball 53 from Ishan Kishan and MS Dhoni’s 24-ball 23.
Ashutosh Singh‘s 98-ball 65 was in vain as Chhattisgarh suffered a four-run defeat against Hyderabad in Kolkata. Ashutosh’s wicket off the first ball of the final over left Chhattisgarh needing eight runs from five balls, of which they could only manage three. His half-century, however, had helped them rally after they were struggling at 78 for 5 in the 20th over. Ravi Kiran, Chama Milind and Mehdi Hassan and Mohammad Siraj took two wickets each for Hyderabad.
Bavanaka Sandeep‘s unbeaten 70 off 99 balls was the top score in Hyderabad’s innings as they were bowled out for 197 despite starts from the top order. Three run-outs and a slump in the middle overs – they lost four wickets for eight runs between the 25th and 28th overs – limited Hyderabad’s total.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo