Excelsior Sports Correspondent
Jammu, Oct 14: After a brilliant display by J&K’s top and middle-order batsmen, especially Abdul Samad and Shubham Khajuria, speed sensation Umran Malik was at his artistic best, however his heroic figures of 4 for 27 in 4 overs went in vain as equally poised Maharashtra scripted a thrilling win by 3 wickets over Jammu and Kashmir in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy at IS Bindra Stadium, Chandigarh today.
When Mahrashtra needed 8 runs in last two overs, Umran bowled a top-class penultimate over, taking 2 wickets by conceding just 4 overs to keep 4 runs for Parvez Rasool who bowled the last over. Rasool after taking the wicket of dangerous looking AN Kazi on the very first ball of the last over bowled another dot ball, before number-9 batsman SS Bachhav smashed a winning boundary for his team. International cricketer Rahul Tripathi was the top scorer for Maharashtra, scoring 59 runs off just 32 balls, studded with 6 fours and 3 sixes, while Pinal Shah contributed 51 off 38 balls with 8 boundaries. DM Hinganekar (17) and International cricketer Rituraj Gaikwad (12) also contributed to the team’s success.
For J&K, Umran Malik was the wrecker-in-chief who took 4 wickets by giving away 27 runs in his 4 overs including the wickets of Shah and Gaikwad, while Rasool bagged 2 wickets by conceding 23 runs in 3.3 overs including the wicket of Tripathi. Abid Mushtaq also claimed one wicket.
Earlier, batting first, J&K scored a good total of 175 runs in the stipulated 20 overs. Abdul Samad top scored with power-packed 55 runs off just 33 balls, studded with 4 fours and 3 sixes runs, while Shubham Khajuria contributed 44 off 28 balls with 8 fours and one six. Skipper Shubham Singh Pundir and Jatin Wadhawan contributed brisk 19 runs each, while Parvez Rasool chipped in with unbeaten 15 runs.
For Maharashtra, RS Hangargekar and AN Kazi took 2 wickets each, while MD Ingale claimed 1 wicket.
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