Indore, March 31 (IANS) Gujarat lifted the 2012-13 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after a comprehensive six-wicket win over Punjab at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here Sunday.
The Parthiv Patel-led side chased down the target with 13 balls to spare after the bowlers restricted the opposition to 122.Earlier, after Mandeep Singh (5) won the toss and chose to bat first, the Punjab top order succumbed to Gujarat pacers and were tottering at 20/4 by the sixth over. But the middle order rallied on and with valuable double digit contributions from Chandan Madan (25) and Gurinder Singh (23) to complement Amitoz Singh’s 49, the team from North posted a competitive total on the board.
Jasprit Bumrah finished with three wickets while Mehul Patel finished with two scalps in the bag. Rohit Dahiya and Rakesh Dhruve chipped in with one wicket apiece to restrict Punjab.
Although Gujarat too lost early wickets while chasing 123, Asad Pathan carried the innings forward (32 off 25 balls, 2x4, 3x6). Later, Manprit Juneja (31) and Abdulahad Malek (31 not out) took the team within sniffing distance of the target. While Malek remained unbeaten, he was ably supported by Akshar Patel (12 not out) in taking the team across the line.
Rajwinder Joginder Singh claimed two of the four Gujarat wickets that fell, while Siddarth Kaul took one.
Brief scores: Punjab 122/8 in 20 overs (Amitoze Singh 49, Jasprit Bumrah 3/14, Mehul Patel 2/26) lost to Gujarat 128/4 in 17.5 overs (Asad Pathan 32, Manprit Juneja 31, Abdulahad Malek 31 not out, Rajwinder Joginder Singh 2/40).
--Indo-Asian News Service
