Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Goa Hand First Defeat To TN; Maharashtra Trounce Pondicherry

Goa registered a seven-wicket win over Tamil Nadu in an Elite Group A match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament here on Monday, handing the defending champions their first loss in four games. Sent into bat, the Tamil Nadu batters could not get going and the regular loss of wickets didn't help. Save for opener N Jagadeesan (21), none of the others in top five made a good contribution. Skipper Vijay Shankar, back in the XI after missing two games due to a niggle, could only make 4 before being caught behind by the 'keeper off Suyash Prabhudesai (1/9 in 2 overs). 

It was only a 67-run stand for the sixth wicket between Sanjay Yadav (38, 29 balls, 2X4, 2X6) and M Shahrukh Khan (26, 24 balls, 3X4) which shored up the Tamil Nadu innings. 

Left-arm medium-pacer Shrikant Wagh, who moved from Vidarbha to Goa, missed out on a hat-trick in the 19th over, but his strikes helped the team restrict Tamil Nadu. 

He first removed Shahrukh Khan to a catch by Deepraj Gaonkar with third ball of the 19th over before bowling the top-scorer Sanjay Yadav with the next delivery. 

M Ashwin denied him the hat-trick by taking a single from the fifth ball but Wagh had M Mohammed (0) caught by substitute fielder MG Sirur to finish with three wickets from four balls. 

Wagh's 4 for 36 was largely responsible for Goa restricting TN to a modest score. In reply, Goa got off to a poor start losing opener captain Eknath Kerkar for a duck and Lakshay Garg to to debutant P Saravana Kumar in the first over. 

Aditya Kaushik (41, 43 balls, 4X4), the other opener, and all-rounder Shubham Ranjane (52 not out, 42 balls, 3X4, 2X6) added 66 runs for the third wicket to put the chase back on track. 

Suyash Prabhudesai, who joined Ranjane after the fall of Kaushik, batted aggressively for 43 (24 balls, 2X4, 3X6) to take Goa home in the 19th over. 

In another game, Maharashtra's star opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was in red-hot form, scoring fifties in the first three matches, faltered against Pondicherry, falling for just three but his team romped to a massive 117-run win. 

Batting after skipper Gaikwad won the toss, Maharashtra rode on half-centuries by Naushad Shaikh (55, 36 balls, 4X4, 3X6) and India discard Kedar Jadhav (52 not out, 39 balls, 6X4, 2X6) to post an impressive 193 for 3 in 20 overs. 

Left-handed batter Azim Kazi smacked 31 from 17 balls (3X4, 2X6) to provide the thrust towards the end. Faced with a huge target, Pondicherry never appeared to be in the hunt and folded for a mere 76 in 13.5 overs with left-arm spinner Azim Kazi grabbing a hat-trick. 

In the day's other match, Punjab crushed Odisha by 60 runs with Ramandeep Singh hammering a 23-ball 54 (3 fours and five sixers) to star in the win. 

Punjab, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have 12 points (three wins, one loss) after the fourth round of matches and the race for the top spot in Group A would be an interesting one. 

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 136 for 9 in 20 overs (Sanjay Yadav 38, M Shahrukh Khan 26, Shrikant Wagh 4/36) lost to Goa 140 for 3 in 18.4 overs (Shubham Ranjane 52 not out, Suyash Prabhudesai 43 not out, Aditya Kaushik 41, P Saravana Kumar 2/17) by seven wickets. Goa: 4 points, TN: 0. 

Maharashtra 193 for 3 in 20 overs (N S Shaikh 55, Kedar Jadhav 52 not out, Yash Nahar 44, Raghu Sharma 2/34) beat Pondicherry 76 all out in 13.5 overs (Naushad Shaikh 3/9, Azim Kazi 3/18 (including hat-trick)). Maharashtra: 4 points, Pondicherry: 0. 

Punjab 189 for 4 in 20 overs (Ramandeep Singh 54 (23 balls, 3X4, 5X6), Gurkeerat Man 48 not out (39 balls, 2X4, 3X6), Prabhsimran Singh 40) beat Odisha 129 for 7 in 20 overs (Abhishek Raut 74 not out (56 balls, 8X4, 1X6), Mayank Markande 2/25, Siddharth Kaul 2/34). Punjab: 4 points, Odisha: 0.