Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: Gambhir, Dhawan, Rahane disappoint; Bhajji, Iyer Shine

New Delhi: Punjab beat Delhi by two wickets in a North Zone leg match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament with senior players like Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan flopping badly in Dharamshala.

Batting first, Delhi scored 103 for 9 in 20 overs while Punjab reached the target losing 8 wickets in 19.2 overs.

Gautam Gambhir's (5) inability against moving deliveries was once again exposed as he edged Manpreet Gony delivery to Jaskaranveer Singh behind the stumps. Dhawan was also caught by Gurkeerat Singh off Gony's bowling.

Gony emerged (3/26 in 4 overs) as the pick of bowlers while Sandeep Sharma (2/16) was equally economical.

Skipper Harbhajan Singh 1/14 in 4 overs kept it tight. 

In reply, Punjab kept on losing wickets at regular intervals but managed to cross the line with four balls to spare.

Anmolpreet Singh (28) and Sharad Lumba (36) were the main contributors.

Summarised Scores

Delhi 103/9 in 20 overs (Gautam Gambhir 5, Shikhar Dhawan 2, Manpreet Gony 3/26, Harbhajan Singh 1/14)

Punjab 106/8 in 19.2 overs (Sharad Lumba 36, Anmolpreet Singh 28). Punjab won by 2 wickets.

Other matches in North Zone

Haryana 133 all out (Rajat paliwal 27, Jayant Yadav 4)

HP 134/5 in 20 overs (Sumeet Verma 54, Jayant Yadav 0/14 in 2 overs). HP won by 5 wickets.

Services 145 in 19.4 overs (Amit Pachhara 45, Hardik Sethi 34, Umar Nazir 3/34)

J&K 140 in 19.5 overs (Nishan Singh 4/24). Services won by 5 runs.

WEST ZONE

Shreyas Iyer's blazing form will be some sort of an assurance for his franchise Delhi Daredevils as his quickfire unbeaten 79 off 49 balls helped Mumbai beat Ranji Trophy champions Gujarat by 5 wickets in a West Zone leg game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Vidharbha on Monday.

While it can't be termed as a revenge for the Ranji champions, Iyer will be feeling happy having hit six fours and four sixes with Mumbai chasing down a modest target of 132 in only 18.2 overs.

Senior pro Ajinkya Rahane (25) however looked rusty during the opening stand of 42. Rahane in fact played 30 balls and found it difficult to rotate the strike.

Earlier, 45-year-old IPL specialist Pravin Tambe (2/19 in 4 overs), easily the oldest active cricketer in Indian domestic circuit currently, warmed up nicely for the big event. Seamer Prathamesh Dake (2/13) was the other successful bowler as Mumbai restricted Gujarat to 131/9.

Summarised Scores

Gujarat 131/9 (Rujul Bhatt 47, Pravin Tambe 2/19)

Mumbai 133/5 in 18.2 overs (Shreyas Iyer 79 no) Mumbai won by 5 wickets.

Other matches in West Zone

Maharashtra 165/9 (Ankit Bawne 71, Shaurya Sanadia 4/37)

Saurashtra 150/9 (Prerak Mankad 72, Anupam Sankleha 2/20). Maharashtra won by 15 runs