Jharkhand, smarting under the loss in their final Super League match against Andhra on Wednesday, came out all guns blazing in the final against Haryana of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Pune on Thursday.
Skipper Ishan Kishan led from the front with a blazing century to set up his team’s 69-run win and claim the coveted trophy.
Jharkhand made a bad start with Virat Singh (2) falling with just three on the board. If Haryana bowlers entertained any thoughts of keeping the Jharkhand batters on a tight leash, they were mistaken. Kishan and Kumar Kushagra put paid to their aspirations with a rollicking stand for the second wicket. By the time, they were done having fun, the match had gone beyond Haryana’s grasp.
Runs came off the Jharkhand bats fast and furiously. Jharkhand’s first 50 came off 29 balls and the next 50 took just 19 balls. The 150 came off 73 balls, thee 200 off 96 balls and by the time the innings was completed Jharkhand had posted a whopping 262 for three in 20 overs.
Kishan got to his half-century off 24 balls with two fours and six sixes. He completed his century by using up another 21 balls with four fours and four sixes in it. His 101 came off a mere 49 balls.
Kushagra’s 50 came off 29 balls with five fours and three sixes. He fell for 81 off 38 balls with eight fours and five sixes.
There was no relief for Haryana after the duo left as Anukul Roy (40) and Robin Minz (31) added 75 for the unbroken fourth wicket.
Haryana failed to take up the challenge as they lost a few quick wickets and that derailed their chase. They ended up with 193 in 18.3 overs with Yashvardhan Dalal making a topscore of 53 off 22 balls with two fours and five sixes.
During the second wicket partnership, several records were broken. Kishan broke the record for most sixes (94) in T20s for Jharkhand, going past Virat Singh’s 84. He also broke the record for most sixes in an innings (10) going past his own earlier record of 9.
Kishan and Kushaagra’s 177-run partnership is Jharkhand’s highest for any wicket in T20s, breaking the record of 165 between Kishan and Virat Singh. This is also the highest match aggregate (455) involving Haryana and Jharkhand in T20s.
SCOREBOARD
Jharkhand: Ishan Kishan b Sumit Kumar 101, Virat Singh c Ranga b Kamboj 2, Kumar Kushagra c sub (Yuvraj) bt Jakhar 81, Anukul Roy (not out) 40, Robin Minz (not out) 31; Extras: (LB1, NB3, W3) 6. Total: (For three wickets in 20 overs) 262. Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-180, 3-187.
Bowling: Anshul Kamboj 4-0-51-1, Ishant Bhardwaj 4-0-40-0, Sumit Kumar 4-0-41-1, Amit Rana 3-0-48-0, Samant Jakhar 4-0-62-1, Parth Vas 1-0-19-0.
Haryana: Arsh Ranga b Mishra 17, Ankit Kumar c Bal Krishna b Vikash Singh 0, Ashish Siwach c Mishra b Vikash Singh 0, Yashvardhan Dalal c Rajandeep Singh b Roy 53, Nishant Sindhu c Rajandeep Singh b Roy 31, Samant Jakhar c Kishan b Bal Krishna 38, Parth Vats c Roy b Mishra 4, Sumit Kumar c Kishan b Bal Krishna 5, Anshul Kamboj c Kushagra b Mishra 3, Amit Rana (not out) 13, Ishant Bhardwaj Vikash Singh b Bal Krishna 17; Extras: (NB1, W3) 4. Total: (All out in 18.3 overs) 193.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-36, 4-103, 5-104, 6-109, 7-136, 8-161, 9-165.
Bowling: Vikash Singh 3-0-30-2, Saurabh Shekhar 2-0-23-0, Sushant Mishra 4-0-27-3, Rajandeep Singh 2-0-33-0, Bal Krishna 3.3-0-38-3, Anukul Roy 4-0-42-2.
