Punjab lived to fight another day after beating Hyderabad by seven runs in a final over thriller in the group ‘A’ fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Niranjan Shah Stadium Ground C here on Sunday.
Hyderabad needed 20 runs off the final over with Chama Milind on a rampage, having hit five sixes and two fours on his way to 42 off 16 balls. Arshdeep Singh bowled a wide yorker and Milind got enough bat on it to edge it past the keeper. He then ran a double followed by a dot. With 14 needed off three, Milind got one in the arc and smacked it straight for a six. He missed a full toss on the next ball and then miscued his shot off the last as Hyderabad fell short of the 197-run target.
The match was going in Punjab’s favour till the 18th over after Hyderabad lost its ninth wicket with 55 runs still required. However, Milind didn’t give up. He kept finding boundaries and got a favourable matchup when Punjab asked Jass Inder to bowl the penultimate over. The off-spinner bowled quick and in the left-hander’s arc, who hit him for three sixes and got 19 runs from the over.
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Before Milind’s defiant heroics entertained an almost-packed ground, Naman Dhir set up Punjab’s game with a five-wicket haul. He removed a dangerous-looking Rohit Rayudu (56 off 37) in the 13th over, triggering a batting collapse. Mayank Markande got Mickil Jaiswal (39 off 23) out and Dhir claimed four more to register his maiden five-for and Punjab’s third win of the tournament.
Earlier, after opting to bat, Punjab had a sedate start, scoring 88 runs in the first 10 overs for the loss of both its openers – Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh – inside the PowerPlay.
Anmolpreet Singh and Nehal Wadhera then formed an 87-run alliance to build a solid platform for the rest of the batters. While Nehal played second fiddle for his 31 off 23, Anmolpreet used his pickup shots to good effect, targeting the area behind square leg to find the fence.
Hyderabad came back into the game in the 13th over when both the set batters fell back-to-back. Anmolpreet’s attempt to play a late cut off Ajay Goud failed as he was caught by the wicketkeeper Prateek Reddy. Nehal came down the track against Nitin Sai Yadav, giving an easy catch to long-on.
Sanvir Singh and Naman Dhir then rebuilt for the next four overs, adding 34 for the fifth wicket. Ravi Teja removed both in the same over as Hyderabad looked to restrict Punjab under 175.
In the final over, Hyderabad was forced to keep one fielder inside the circle due to slow over-rate and Ramandeep Singh made optimum use of it. He first hit the ball over the cover fielder for four, then smashed the full ball by Teja straight for another boundary. He found the fence two times more before launching the final two deliveries over the rope to make it 28 runs off the over.
From 168/6 at the end of 19 overs, Punjab muscled its way to 196/6, just enough to keep its knockout hopes alive.