Madhya Pradesh pulled off a stunning nine-run win over defending champion Punjab in a group ‘A’ fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Niranjan Shah Stadium here on Wednesday.
Punjab needed 38 runs off the final four overs when Kumar Kartikeya had Nehal Wadhera caught at the midwicket boundary. Two balls later, the tweaker had Anmolpreet Singh chipping straight to square-leg.
In the next over, Arpit Gaud plucked a stunning catch of Ramandeep Singh at deep midwicket off Arshad Khan, who later cleaned up Harpreet Brar.
Sanvir Singh hit 22 off 14 to get Punjab close but MP’s bowlers held their nerve and closed the game.
Till the 13th over, Punjab was cruising. Abhishek Sharma struck a 36-ball 61, filled with stylish shots and hard punches. He got good support from Prabhsimran Singh – the duo added 52 runs in the first five overs – and then Naman Dhir, who struck 39 off 27.
Things changed when Kartikeya had Abhishek caught and Tripuresh Singh grabbed a stunning return catch two overs later to send back Dhir.
Put in to bat, Madhya Pradesh had a poor start, losing Gaud and Subhransu Senapati in the second over. While Gaud was trapped in front by Abhishek, Senapati was caught in a mix-up with Abhishek Pathak.
Pathak struck two huge sixes off Arshdeep Singh and Abhishek, but in the hunt for another maximum, he was caught off the left-arm spinner.
Madhya Pradesh hit back, with captain Rajat Patidar leading from the front alongside Harpreet Singh Bhatia as the duo shared a 112-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Patidar hit some beautiful shots: lofted punches off the backfoot, late cuts, slogs on the leg-side, and pulls. Bhatia, on the other end, kept switching between playing with soft hands that allowed him to take twos, and hard hits through which he found the fence.
It took a brilliant high-jumping catch by wicketkeeper Prabhsimran off Ramandeep to break the partnership. Patidar tried an uppercut off the medium-pacer but couldn’t find enough elevation and Prabhsimran plucked a one-handed stunner.
Bhatia batted for two more overs but was caught at long-on off Baltej Singh, who also removed Arshad Khan in the same over. Venkatesh Iyer found it difficult to connect the ball but hit a six and a four in the final over to get MP to a fighting total.