Virender Sehwag stars with bat as Delhi defeat Jammu and Kashmir in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Sehwag got the much-needed match practice prior to the IPL as he blasted J&k bowlers around the park. (Source: Express File)

A vintage Virender Sehwag revived old memories with a dazzling 85 to power Delhi to a 26-run win over Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in a North Zone leg match of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 cricket tournament on Tuesday.

Coming to bat at number three position, Sehwag sent the J&K bowlers for a leatherhunt to score his runs off just 50 balls with the help of seven boundaries and five sixes and help Delhi pile up a competitive 159 runs for the loss of six wickets at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground.

Sent into bat, Delhi did not have the best of starts Unmukt Chand (5) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (10) fell cheaply.

The hosts kept on losing wickets at regulat intervals before Sehwag and Vaibhav Rawal (39) shared a 72-run stand for the fifth wicket in quick time to help Delhi get past the 150-run mark.

Right-arm pacer Umar Nazir Mir was the pick of the bowlers for J&K with figures of two for 19 from his four overs.

Chasing the target, J&K could only muster 133 runs for seven wickets with opener Adil Rashid top-scoring with a 41-ball 47 while Ian Dev Singh made 36.

Pacer Vikas Tokas (2/31) and left-arm orthodox bowler Pawan Negi (2/30) picked up two wickets apiece for Delhi.

Meanwhile in other North Zone leg matches of the day, Punjab scored a convincing seven-wicket win over Haryana at the Feroze Shah Kotla while Himachal Pradesh defeated Services by six wickets at the Palam ground in Delhi.

In the match between Punjab and Haryana, the former rode on half centuries from Manan Vohra (63 off 41 balls, 7x4s, 2x6s) and Yuvraj Singh (56 not out off 29 balls, 4x4s, 5x6s) to easily chase down the 152-run target set by their opponents.

In the other North Zone encounter of the day at Palam, Services’ decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired as they could only manage 111 for the loss of seven wickets, which Himachal overwhelmed with consummate ease.

Brief Scores:
Match 1 – Delhi: 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Virender Sehwag 85; Umar Nazir Mir 2/19) vs J&K: 133 for 7 in 20 overs (Adil
Rashid 47, Ian Dev Singh 36; Pawan Negi 2/30, Vikas Tokas 2/31).

Match 2 – Haryana: 151 for 7 in 20 overs (Himanshu Rana 55 not out; Sandeep Sharma 3/34 vs Punjab: 152 for 3 in 15.4 overs (Manan Vohra 63, Yuvraj Singh 56 not out; Ashish Hooda 1/10).

Match 3 – Services: 111 for 7 in 20 overs (Yashpal Singh 26; Bipul Sharma 2/16) vs Himachal Pradesh: 112 for 4 in 15.5 overs (Paras Dogra 35, Prashant Chopra 34 not out; Pratik Desai 1/3).
Mumbai beat Baroda in high-scoring game

Captain Aditya Tare led from the front with a quickfire 64 to steer Mumbai to a six-wicket win over Baroda in their opening match of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (West Zone) on Tuesday.

Openers Tare (64 off 50 balls) and Shoaib Shaikh (54) shared a 102-run stand, setting up an ideal platform to chase down Baroda’s 175 for 7.

Suryakumar Yadav (16*) and Safaraz Khan (14*) took their team home on the final ball of the 20th over.

Earlier, Mumbai let Baroda put up a competitive total after opting to field.

Saurabh Wakaskar (35), Yusuf Pathan (33) and Krunal Pandya (51) were the main contributors to the score.

Brief scores: Baroda 175/7 in 20 overs (Saurabh Wakaskar 35, Yusuf Pathan 33, Krunal Pandya 51; Siddhesh Lad 2/17).

Mumbai 179/4 in 20 overs (Shoaib Shaikh 58, Aditya Tare 64; Atit Sheth 2/44).

Source:: Indian Express