New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh have entered the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 following hard-fought win against Andhra on Monday at the M.Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. The Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led side won by four wickets in the pre-quarterfinal match.
After opting to bowl first on the placid but tricky wicket of Bengaluru, Bhuvneshwar got rid off the in-form Andhra opener Srikar Bharat, who walked in with a strike rate over 150 in the tournament. The Indian swing master moved the ball variably in the early, denying the two rampant openers to maximise the scoring conditions.
He conceded just three runs from his first over before returning to get Bharat caught near the boundary. The Uttar Pradesh pacer quartet of Bhuvneshwar, Mohsin Khan, Shivam Mavi and Vineet Panwar build pressure with immaculate lines and lengths to strike regular intervals. Mohsin got the better of Ashwin Hebbar while Shaik Rasheed went to play the pull off Mavi only to find Panwar at the third man.
SDNV Prasad (34 off 22 balls) and KV Sasikant (23 off 8 balls) fired late in the innings to propel the southern team past 150 after they were reduced to 86 for 5 in the 14th over. Uttar Pradesh scored 67 runs in the last five overs to post a sizeable score of 156 for 6 after 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar picked two wickets for 30 runs, but it was the special bowling from Vipraj Nigam (2 for 20 from four overs) that held things in control for Andhra.
Karan Sharma, Vipraj Nigam helps UP chase comfortably
Uttar Pradesh opener Karan Sharma laid the foundation stone for the moderate chase, smashing five boundaries and three sixes in 31-ball 48. He missed his well-deserved half-century while trying to play the cross seam across the off-stump and saw his stumps crashed behind.
Though Aryan Jual (19), Priyam Garg (10), Nitish Rana (4) and Sameer Rizvi (12) looked out of touch, Rinku Singh hold firm at one end. But Rinku wasn’t the one to provide the finishing touches as Vipraj Nigam smashed 27 runs in just eight balls laced with three fours and two sixes to inch closer to the target. Uttar Pradesh finished the chase with one over to spare.
Uttar Pradesh will face Delhi in their quarterfinal match on Friday at the same venue.
Uttar Pradesh secured a hard-fought four-wicket victory over Andhra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy pre-quarterfinal. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s early wickets and disciplined bowling from the UP pacers restricted Andhra to 156/6. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
