Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Kerala edge past UP but miss out on qualification

Kerala pipped Uttar Pradesh by one run in a tense encounter at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram but that wasn’t enough to secure qualification to the Super League phases of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competition as the hosts finished 4th in Group B.

Despite boasting 16 points from 6 games, a tally similar to Rajasthan and Vidarbha, Kerala lost out to the former owing to an inferior Net Run Rate. While the home side ended with a quotient of 0.503, Rajasthan finished with a 1.938.

In a must-win encounter, Kerala won the toss and elected to bat. However, they got off to a poor start as UP sent Rohan Kunnummal, Sachin Baby and Vishnu Vinod back to the pavilion inside the PowerPlay.

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Though Sanju Samson cropped up with a handy knock of 38 off 28 deliveries, Kerala never managed to generate enough momentum to ensure a good total on the board. Eventually, the hosts only mustered a tame score of 119-8 in their allotted 20 overs.

However, rain came to the home side’s aid as the contest was reduced to a 7-over shootout, wherein the visitors had to chase down 44. And, courtesy some tight bowling by Kerala, UP were restricted to 42, meaning that the former triumphed by a solitary run.

Yet, ultimately, that wasn’t enough as Kerala were left to rue their poor performances against Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, especially considering they eventually lost out on qualification to the aforementioned pair.