Baroda's wicketkeeper-batter Amit Pasi scored 114 off 55 balls against Services in Hyderabad to equal Bilal Asif's record for the highest score on T20 debut. Pasi's knock, featuring ten fours and nine sixes, propelled Baroda to 220 for 5. However, it was not enough for Baroda to progress to the Super League as they finished on 16 points. Services gave a tough fight but fell short by 13 .
Opening the innings, Pasi reached his fifty off 24 balls and his hundred off 44. He and Vishnu Solanki (25 off 12) added 75 in 5.2 overs for the fourth wicket. Bhanu Pania also contributed 28 not out off 15 towards the end.
Kunwar Pathak and Ravi Chauhan gave Services a start of 84 in 8.2 overs, with both openers scoring 51 each. Captain Mohit Ahlawat's 41 off 22 kept the chase going, but apart from Nakul Sharma, he didn't find much support. Services finished on 207 for 8, their sixth loss in seven games. For Baroda, Raj Limbani was the most successful bowler, picking up 3 for 37.
Naman Dhir's rapid 61 off 36 and Harpreet Brar's all-round show propelled Punjab to a competitive total of 188 for 8 to seal their 75-run win over Gujarat and earned them a Super League berth. Dhir blasted four fours and three sixes at No. 4, followed by cameos from Salil Arora (30 off 19) and Sanvir Singh (30 off 17) before Harpreet smashed 24 off just eight balls at No. 9.
Harpreet was particularly belligerent in taking apart Harshal Patel for 24 runs from his six balls, as the pacer leaked 57 runs from his four overs. Ravi Bishnoi was also expensive, conceding 36 runs from his four. Gujarat crumbled to 113 in 16.1 overs in reply, with opener Urvil Patel bagging a duck, and only one of their top nine crossing 15. Ashwani Kumar, Ramandeep Singh, Harpreet, Sanvir and Gaurav Chaudhary took two wickets apiece.
Haryana were the other team to progress from Group C, as their top-four batters led them to 191 for 9 against a Bengal attack led by Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Shahbaz Ahmed. Bengal fell short by 24 runs and were knocked out. Haryana captain Ankit Kumar (46 off 30), Nishant Sindhu (48 off 31) and Yashvardhan Dalal (31 off 22) led the charge with the bat to see off Shami's spell of 4-0-30-4 while Akash Deep went for 4-0-32-2. Haryana scored 99 runs in the second half of the innings, which proved to be pivotal as Bengal's lower order floundered after Abhishek Porel's 47 off 24 at the top and Writtick Chatterjee's 44 off 33 at No. 4. Only one Bengal batter went into double-digits after their top five.
Rahane 95* leads Mumbai to big win against Odisha
Mumbai, who had qualified earlier from Group A, along with Andhra, finished the league stage on a high by chasing down 168 against Odisha, as Ajinkya Rahane's unbeaten 95 off 56 balls led them to the win. Medium-pacer Suryansh Shedge picked 3 for 46 to keep Odisha to 167 for 7.
In reply, Rahane and Sarfaraz Khan smashed 74 runs in the powerplay in the absence of regular opener Ayush Mhatre. Angkrish Raghuvanshi then joined Rahane to finish unbeaten on 38 off 26 deliveries for a nine-wicket win with four overs to spare. Rahane became the top-scorer for Mumbai in T20s with 1727 runs, going past Suryakumar Yadav's tally of 1717.
Virat, Kushagra and Minz fifties help Jharkhand beat Rajasthan
Rajasthan and Jharkhand had already made it to the Super League from Group D, and they faced-off in a top-of-the-table clash in Ahmedabad. Jharkhand's batting might, led by Virat Singh (69 off 36 balls), captain Kumar Kushagra (55 from 37), and Robin Minz (58 off 27) charged them to 215 for 5, which proved to be too much for Rajasthan, who were all out for 179, with three wickets each for left-arm spinner Anukul Roy and left-arm quick Sushant Mishra.
More to follow...