Badani leads Haryana past Mumbai in Mushtaq Ali Trophy

HYDERABAD: Nothing seems to be going right for Mumbai this season. After failing to defend their Ranji Trophy title, one expected the champion team to put up a better show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament. But on Saturday, it was unfancied Haryana who stole the thunder by showing Mumbai the door with a four-wicket defeat.
In another match, Bengal had no problems getting past Vidarbha by 31 runs.
Batting first, Mumbai posted 140-7 off their stipulated 20 overs. Former India player Wasim Jaffer, who's not considered suitable for the T20 version of the game, top-scored with 34 off 26 balls (4x4).
But apart from Abhishek Nayar (29: 21b, 2x4, 2x6), none of the other batsmen came to the party. Sonu Rathi, later declared the man-of-the-match, took three for 33 to restrict Mumbai.
In reply, former India player Hemang Badani showed the way for Haryana as they reached 143-6 in 19.3 overs. The southpaw, who used to trade his wares for Tamil Nadu, used his experience to shepherd the chase with a calculated 42 (37b, 2x4, 2x6). Nitin Saini top-scored with 45 (38b, 5x4).
In an earlier match, Manoj Tiwari struck a 29-ball 39 as Bengal ran up 167-4. Anustup Majumdar (38: 30b, 8x4), Sreevasts Goswamy (28: 22b, 1x4, 1x6) and S Das (30: 24b, 4x4, 1x6) made useful contributions to swell the Bengal total.
In reply, Vidharba were never in contention to make it count and ended up with 137-7. Gourav Upadhya made 40 (34b, 1x4, 3x6). Sami Ahmed, who claimed the man-of-the-match award, took three for 24 and Arnab Nandy claimed two for 18.
Brief scores:
Bengal 167-4 (Anustup Majumdar 38, Manoj Tiwari 39) bt Vidarbha 136-7 (Gourav Upadhaya 40; Sami Ahmed 3/24) by 31 runs; Mumbai 140-7 (Wasim Jaffer 34, Abhishek Nayar 29; Sonu Rathi 3/33) lost to Haryana 143-6 in 19.3 overs (Hemang Badani 42, Nitin Saini 45) by 4 wkts