Ramdayal takes Dhawan for duck; Pandav, Wadhawan, Khajuria dazzle
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 14: Jammu and Kashmir crushed formidable Delhi by 8 wickets in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Cricket Tournament at CB Patel ground, Surat.
The trio of Shubham Khajuria, Manzoor Dar (Pandav) and Jatin Wadhawan played power-packed knocks to take their side to home before J&K bowlers restricted strong Delhi to 165/7 in 20 overs.
Chasing a target of 166 runs set by Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir openers Shubham Khajuria and Jatin Wadhawan began in style and took the score to 68 runs in 5.3 overs before Khajuria fell at his individual score of 49 runs off just 22 balls, studded with 5 fours and 4 sixes. Wadhawan remained unbeaten on 48 runs off 38 balls with four fours and 2 sixes, while explosive Pandav sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt in in brisk knock of 58 runs off just 24 balls including 8 fours and 3 sixes. Jammu and Kashmir reached the target in 15.5 overs. Another in form batsman Shubham Singh Pundir remained unbeaten on 7 runs.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan failed to score in his first game of the Tournament as he was dismissed early in the innings by J&K speedster Ramdayal for naught.
Nitish Rana took Delhi to 165 for seven with 55 off 30 balls, a quick-fire innings that included half a dozen sixes. Hiten Dalal and Anuj Rawat scored 35 and 34 runs for Delhi respectively. From Jammu and Kashmir, Ramdayal and Umar Nazir took 2 wickets each, while skipper Parvez Rasool, Auqib Nabi and Abid Mushtaq claimed one wicket each. Rasool was most economical among the bowlers, with 1/15 in his 4 overs.
It was the first loss for Delhi and second consecutive victory for Jammu and Kashmir.
It was not an ideal start to the tournament for India opener Dhawan, who is not in the best of form. His stay in the middle lasted nine balls.
The victory against strong Delhi portraits picture of the mental toughness of J&K players. For that matter, one can say that former Test cricketer and J&K team mentor, Irfan Pathan’s ‘mantra’ has worked for young cricketers.
Follow our WhatsApp channel