Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: 3 sides post hat-trick of wins, Karnataka return to winning ways on Day 5

People in all parts of India are celebrating 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy victories as Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Baroda – all from different groups – have become the first three states to win their opening three fixtures.

After Jharkhand and Assam, Odisha fell prey to Tamil Nadu on Thursday (January 14), An all-round performance saw the southern giants romp to an eight-wicket win in Elite Group B, in Kolkata.

Led by leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin (3 for 16), all five Tamil Nadu bowlers claimed wickets as the Biplab Samantray-led side only managed 132 for nine. In reply, N Jagadeesan smashed 61 off 38 balls which, coupled with healthy contributions from three others, took Tamil Nadu home with 29 balls and eight wickets to spare.

In Elite Group A, Punjab sustained the momentum they had gained by beating Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 winners Karnataka on Tuesday. Their opening pair of Prabhsimran Singh (63 off 39) and Abhishek Sharma (107 off 62) put on 129 runs off just 75 balls to power Punjab to 200 for four against Railways.

In the bowling department, Harpreet Brar (4 for 22) and Arshdeep Singh (3 for 16) were equal to the task. They bundled out the Dinesh Mor-led side for a meagre 83, at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur.

In Vadodara, Baroda moved to the top of Elite Group C as left-arm seamer Lukman Meriwala scripted sensational figures of 5 for 8 to shoot Chattisgarh out for a tame 90. Despite losing a wicket in the first over of the chase, Kedar Devdhar (44* off 41) and Vishnu Solanki (42* off 33) ensured Krunal Pandya’s side crossed the line with nine wickets and 45 balls to spare.

Gujarat’s loss to Himachal Pradesh further boosted Baroda's ambitions at the top of the table. Captain Rishi Dhawan (43 off 34 and 2 for 25) led from the front as Himachal ran home winners by 26 runs. The Axar Patel-led side, however, remained second in the group with the Himachal Pradesh now breathing down their neck.

Karun Nair’s Karnataka returned to winning ways, edging Tripura by a narrow 10-run margin. 21-year-old Devdutt Padikkal was the star of the match as he scored an unbeaten 99 off 64 deliveries with nine boundaries and four sixes.

In Kolkata, Jharkhand put on a run-fest as Virat Singh (103* off 53) and Saurabh Tiwary (57 off 33) forged a 114-run third-wicket stand to thrust the Ishan Kishan-led side to 233 for three. In reply, Assam fell short by 51 runs, despite 19-year-old Riyan Parag smashing a 38-ball 67.

A star-studded Uttar Pradesh line-up fell to a third successive Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 defeat as Jammu and Kashmir went second in Elite Group A with an eight-wicket win in Alur. Suresh Raina’s (0 off 2) lean patch continued, while rising star Abdul Samad hit an unbeaten 35-ball 54 to get his side over the line with five overs remaining.

Uttarakhand posted their first win of the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beating Maharashtra by six wickets in an Elite Group C contest. Kedar Jadhav led Maharasthra's charge with a 47-ball 61 that was successfully overshadowed by opener Jay Bista’s unbeaten 69 off 51 balls. Iqbal Abdulla’s side polished off the chase with 11 balls left.

*Note: Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, Elite Group B: Bengal v Hyderabad is scheduled at 7PM IST.

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Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 Day 5 brief scorecards

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Punjab v Railways, Elite Group A in Alur

Punjab 200/4 (Abhishek Sharma 107, Prabhsimran Singh 63, Dhrushant Soni 2/29, Pradeep Poojar 1/42) beat Railways 83 in 17.1 overs (Harsh Tyagi 16, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh 3/16, Mayank Markande 2/13) by 117 runs.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Karnataka v Tripura, Elite Group A in Alur

Karnataka 167/5 (Devdutt Padikkal 99*, Rohan Kadam 31, Rana Dutta 2/41, Manisankar Murasingh 1/27) beat Tripura 157/4 in 17.2 overs (Manisankar Murasingh 61*, Rajat Dey 44*, Abhimanyu Mithun 1/28, Krishnappa Gowtham 1/26) by 10 runs.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Jammu and Kashmir v Uttar Pradesh, Elite Group A in Alur

Uttar Pradesh 124/5 (Priyam Garg 35, Shubham Chaubey 28, Mujtaba Yousuf 3/14, Abid Mushtaq 1/20) lost to Jammu and Kashmir 126/2 in 15 overs (Abdul Samad 54*, Shubham Khajuria 34*, Mohsin Khan 2/17) by 8 wickets.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Tamil Nadu v Odisha, Elite Group B in Kolkata

Odisha 132/9 (Suryakant Pradhan 23, Murugan Ashwin 3/16, M Mohammed 2/30, Aswin Crist 2/34) lost to Tamil Nadu 136/2 in 15.2 overs (N Jagadeesan 61, Hari Nishanth 29, Pappu Roy 1/32, Ankit Yadav 1/17) by 8 wickets.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Jharkhand v Assam, Elite Group B in Kolkata

Jharkhand 233/3 (Virat Singh 103*, Saurabh Tiwary 57, Pritam Das 2/40, Mukhtar Hussain 1/47) beat Assam 182/7 (Riyan Parag 67, Pallavkumar Das 46, Monu Kumar 3/23, Utkarsh Singh 1/10) by 51 runs.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Chattisgarh v Baroda, Elite Group C in Vadodara

Chattisgarh 90 in 17.3 overs (Shashank Chandraker 20, Lukman Meriwala 5/8, Karthik Kakade 2/17) lost to Baroda 91/1 (Kedar Devdhar 44*, Vishnu Solanki 42*, Sourabh Majumdar 1/12) by 9 wickets.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Gujarat v Himachal Pradesh, Elite Group C in Vadodara

Himachal Pradesh 141/5 (Rishi Dhawan 43, Digvijay Rangi 35*) beat Gujarat 115 in 19.4 overs (Piyush Chawla 39, Vaibhav Arora 3/16, Pankaj Jaiswal 2/19, Rishi Dhawan 2/25) by 26 runs.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Uttarakhand v Maharashtra, Elite Group C in Vadodara

Maharashtra 141/4 (Kedar Jadhav 61, Azim Kazi 31*, Dikshanshu Negi 1/18, Samad Fallah 1/22) lost to Uttarakhand 145/4 in 18.1 overs (Jay Bista 69*, Dikshanshu Negi 23, Mukesh Choudhary 1/24, Divyang Himganekar 1/11) by 6 wickets.