An error-strewn Kerala floundered in the field and with the bat as Madhya Pradesh registered a five-wicket win in the SMAT Group C match at the New PCA stadium here on Saturday.
Kerala put down four catches including that of Madhya Pradesh captain Rajat Patidar, who guided his side to victory with an unbeaten 36. Patidar, who was dropped early by Nidheesh at short third man off Karthik B. Nair, slammed Bjiu Narayanan over long-on fence to usher in the win with eight balls to spare.
Chasing a modest target of 139, opener Akshat Raghuwanshi (45) gave Madhya Pradesh a flying start.
He added 51 for the second wicket with Shivang Kumar before leg spinner Karthik B. Nair came up with a lion-hearted bowling effort in the middle overs to scupper the chase. Madhya Pradesh stuttered, losing three wickets for 23 runs, but Rajat Patidar and Rahul Batham played sensibly to take their side home.Avesh Khan rattled Kerala by dismissing Sanju Samson in the first over Kerala slumped to 30 for three before Salman Nizar (69, 53b 5×4, 2×6) and Akhil Scaria (32) added 67 runs for the fourth wicket. But the final charge came a bit late for Kerala as it ended up with a sub-par total of 138 for six.
Earlier in the first match, a resilient Andhra defended an underwhelming total of 141 to chalk up a 43-run win over Tripura.
K. Revanth Reddy’s record equalling performance — six dismissals which included four catches and two stumpings — headlined the comprehensive win.
Tripura was never in the hunt after losing wickets in clusters in the PowerPlay. Andhra pacers C.V. Stephen and P.V. Sasikanth polished off Tripura’s top order early on while the spinners choked the run flow the middle overs. Eventually, the Tripura batters succumbed to the pressure and it was bundled out for 98.
Put in to bat, Andhra lost Hemanth Reddy in the first over and it was followed by steady fall of wickets. Ashwin Hebbar, reprieved on four by Lakshya Thareja, muscled a 16-ball 34 to give momentum to the innings. S.D.N.V. Prasad then smashed an unbeaten 50 off 33 balls to prop up the total.
The scores:
Kerala 138/6 in 20 overs (Salman Nizar 69, Akhil Scaria 32, Tripuresh Singh 3/28) lost to Madhya Pradesh 142/5 in 18.4 overs (Akshat Raghuwanshi 45, Rajat Patidar 36 no).
Andhra 141/9 in 20 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 34, S.D.N.V Prasad 50 n.o., Viki Saha 3/23) bt Tripura 98 in 17.2 overs (C.V. Stephen 3/29, K.V. Sasikanth 3/12).
Pondicherry 204/9 in 20 overs (Bhanu Anand 46, Akash Pugazhanthi 42, S. Parameeshwaran 46) bt Maharashtra 189/5 in 20 overs (Prithvi Shaw 32, Arshin Kulkarni 33, Sahil Parakh 57, Rahul Tripathi 35 no, Badal Rawat 3/12).
Himachal Pradesh 176/6 in 20 overs (Mridul Surroch 52) bt Assam 119/6 in 15 overs (Saahil Jain 37 n.o.) (Himachal won by 16 runs VJD method).
