Nitin, Milind star as Hyderabad posts victory over Jammu & Kashmir

Nitin Sai Yadav scalped three and Tanay Thyagarajann scored his maiden half-century to propel Hyderabad to a four-wicket win over Jammu and Kashmir in a Group-B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Jadavpur University ground here on Thursday.

Opting to field in early morning conditions, Hyderabad bundled Jammu and Kashmir out for 112. It overcame a shaky start to record its fourth victory and top the table with 16 points.

Pacers Rakshann Readi and captain C.V. Milind secured a wicket apiece to grab early advantage. Jammu and Kashmir skipper Shubham Khajuria (35, 33b, 3×4, 1×6) and debutant Kawal Preet Singh (21, 17b, 3×4) batted sensibly to add 40 runs.

Nitin broke the stand when Kawal Preet edged it to the ‘keeper. The young left-arm spinner kept it tight as left-hander Abid Mushtaq played it to mid-wicket and Abdul Samad offered a low return catch, which Nitin took spectacularly diving to his left.

Ajay Dev Goud had Khajuria caught behind and Nitin’s direct throw from point ran Auqib Nabi out at the non-striker’s end as Jammu and Kashmir made a mess of its middle overs before being all out. Milind and Rakshann ended up bagging three and two wickets respectively.

Yudhvir Singh and Nabi captured two wickets apiece to see Hyderabad totter at 38 for four in 5.2 overs.
However, Tanay’s counter-attacking knock (50, 33b, 7×4, 1×6) wrested the momentum back for Hyderabad. After taking three wickets against Uttar Pradesh and bowling economically here, the left-hander cut, drove and flicked confidently to form a decisive 72-run partnership with Pragnay Reddy (31 n.o., 29b, 4×4, 1×6), who exhibited fine hits despite curbing his attacking instinct.

“Nitin understood his role well. He and Tanay did a great job,” said Milind, taking pride in his side’s ability to adapt to situations.

Hyderabad redeemed some pride following its Ranji Trophy loss to the same opponent last month.
Uttar Pradesh rode on Madhav Kaushik and Sameer Rizvi’s half-centuries and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s three wickets to outplay Chandigarh by 40 runs.

Kashyap Bakle and Suyash Prabhudesai’s fifties and Deepraj Gaonkar’s four wickets enabled Goa to beat Bihar by five wickets.

The scores: At Eden Gardens: Uttar Pradesh 212/7 in 20 overs (Madhav Kaushik 67, Sameer Rizvi 70, Sandeep Sharma 4/26) bt Chandigarh 172/8 in 20 overs (Manan Vohra 61, Nikhil Thakur 32, Amrit Lal Lubana 30 n.o., Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/23).

Madhya Pradesh 153/8 in 20 overs (Mohd. Arshad Khan 30) bt Maharashtra 132/8 in 20 overs (Arshin Kulkarni 31, Rahul Tripathi 37, Tripuresh Singh 3/23).

At Jadavpur University ground: Jammu and Kashmir 112 in 19.3 overs (Shubham Khajuria 35, C.V. Milind 3/31, Nitin Sai Yadav 3/17) lost to Hyderabad 115/6 in 15.1 overs (Pragnay Reddy 31 n.o., Tanay Thyagarajan 50).

Bihar 180/7 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Suryavanshi 46, Sakibul Gani 60, Akash Raj 40, Deepraj Gaonkar 4/38) lost to Goa 184/5 in 19.5 overs (Kashyap Bakle 64, Suyash Prabhudesai 79, Suraj Kashyap 3/24).