Jharkhand tasted their first loss in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season. After winning all their seven matches in the league phase, Jharkhand had won both their Super League games before finding their match in Andhra in Pune on Tuesday. However, Jharkhand made it to the final of the tournament by virtue of finish top of the table. They take on Haryana in the final.
Andhra managed to pull off a narrow nine-run win over their rivals and finish second on the table behind Jharkhand. The 16 extras conceded by Jharkhand proved costly for the side.
Andhra got off to a sound start with KS Bharat and Ashwin Hebbar adding 61 in 5.1 overs before Hebbar fell for 30. Last match’s hero M Hemanth Reddy fell for 13 and Bharat departed after making 35.
K Nitish Kumar Reddy hammered a 22-ball 45 with six fours and two sixes to prop up the score. Andhra finished with 203 for seven.
In reply, Jharkhand were given a flying start with Ishan Kishan and Virat Singh adding 88 in 6.5 overs. But once Kishan (35) fell, Jharkhand lost their way.
Virat went for a 40-ball 77 with four fours and seven sixes. Robin Minz chipped in with 25 but it was not sufficient.
Jharkhand were restricted to 194 for eight. Nithish, who took two for 32, was named the Player of the Match.
SCOREBOARD
Andhra: KS Bharat c Minz b Bal Krishna 35, Ashwin Hebbar c Ishan b V Singh 30, M Hemanth Reddy c Pankaj b Deep 13, K Nitish Kumar Reddy lbw Roy 45, Ricky Bhui c & b Roy 19, SDNV Prasad c Minz b Deep 8, Avinash Pyla c Deep b Mishra 20, Saurabh Kumar (not out) 16, Tripurana Vijay (not out) 1; Extras: (NB1, W12 B1, LB2) 16. Total: (For seven wickets in 20 overs) 203.
Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-76, 3-106, 4-135, 5-153, 6-163, 7-199.
Bowling: Vikash Singh 3-0-30-1, Saurabh Kumar 3-0-34-0, Sushant Mishra 4-0-38-1, Rajan Deep 3-0-35-2, Bal Krishna 3-0-33-1, Anukul Roy 4-0-30-2.
Jharkhand: Ishan Kishan c Hemanth b Raju 35, Virat Singh c Prasad b Vijay 77, Kumar Kushagra c & b Nithish, Robin Minz c Hemanth b Nitish 25, Anukul Roy c Vijay b Saurabh 3, Pankaj Kumar c Bharat b Prithvi 5, Rajan Deep b Saurabh Kumar 6, Bal Krishna (not out) 14, Vikash Singh (run out) 1, Sushant Mishra (not out) 0; Extras: (W4, B1, LB6) 11. Total: (For 8 wickets in 20 overs) 194.
Fall of wickets: 1-88, 2-119, 3-149, 4-164, 5-165, 6-175, 7-185, 8-188.
Bowling: Nitish Kumar Reddy 4-0-32-2, PVSN Raju 4-0-37-1, Prithvi Raj Y 4-0-37-1, Tripurana Vijay 4-0-50-1, Saurabh Kumar 3-0-21-2, M Hemanth Reddy 1-0-10-0.
