UP break T20 jinx against MP

NAGPUR: Piyush Chawla is seriously donning the role of allrounder for the last two years. Be it his fighting 92 in the Challenger Trophy final a couple of years ago in Nagpur or his consistent performances in Deodhar and Duleep Trophy for the last two-three years, Chawla's batting has certainly come a long way. The Uttar Pradesh captain showed on Wednesday that he is loving the responsibility as he closed yet another tight game with some sensible cricket against zonal arch-rivals Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.
Chawla's unbeaten 45-run (35b, 3x4, 1x6) knock not only gave UP their third successive win in the ongoing Central Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy but also broke the Twenty20 jinx against MP. Since the tournament started in 2006-07, it was the first time UP beat MP. The three-wicket victory, which came in 19.5 overs, also gave them the Super League berth for the second successive year.
Not only Chawla (4-0-20-2) was brilliant with the bat but he also bowled well in company of chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (4-0-11-1). The spin duo is becoming mystery in this tournament and all the teams have so far struggled to get going against them. The strokeplayers from MP too couldn't unsettle the duo as they continued the good work done by opening bowlers Ankit Rajpoot and Amit Mishra. MP's premier batsmen Jalaj Saxena, Mohnish Mishra and Naman Ojha were back in the hut with only 16 on the board. It's here Jatin Saxena (28, 17b, 4x4, 1x6) and Udit Birla (26, 37b, 2x4) steadied the ship with some positive cricket and added 47 in quick time. However, Chawla got the breakthrough for his side removing Jatin and MP middle order collapsed miserably. Had it not been Salman Baig's (38, 17b, 2x4, 3x6) heroics in the last over, MP would not have reached 139 in 20 overs. The Bhopal lad hit Rajpoot for 24 runs in the last overs, which had three mighty sixes—one of which went out of the ground.
When UP came out to bat, Ishwar Pandey (4-0-23-3) again conceded two boundaries in his first over but bounced back brilliantly in his second spell to send back opener Rahul Rawat and Eklavya Dwivedi. In form Mukul Dagar and Akshdeep Nath too went in quick succession, leaving UP in disarray. Chawla then joined Umang Sharma (32, 33b, 1x4, 1x6) and the two had mountain to climb. With not much batting left and asking run-rate close to nine runs per over, they had tough task on their hand. Chawla calmed the nerves of Sharma as they started taking singles and doubles till the 14th over. With 60 to get in the last 6 overs, Chawla hit pacer Amarjeet Singh for 17 in his third over. Next over by young Saransh Jain went to 13 runs and it was run a ball needed in the last four overs. Even though UP lost the wickets of Sharma, Rinku Singh (10, 5b, 2x4) and Imtiaz Ahmad, Chawla remained at the crease till the end to guide his side to historic victory.
BRIEF SCORES
MP 139 in 20 overs (Salman Baig 38*, Jatin Saxena 28, Udit Birla 26; Piyush Chawla 2-20, Ankit Rajpoot 2-38, Imtiaz Ahmad & Kuldeep Yadav one wicket each) lost UP 141-7 in 19.5 overs (Piyush Chawla 45*, Umang Sharma 32, Mukul Dagar 18; Ishwar Pandey 3-23, Jatin Saxena 2-18, Jalaj Saxena 1-33) by seven wickets.