Reddy hat-trick for Andhra in vain; Jharkhand chase down 236 vs Punjab

Nitish Kumar Reddy took a hat-trick for Andhra to reduce Madhya Pradesh (MP) to 14 for 3 in three overs in their 113 chase. It wasn't enough to prevent defeat for Andhra, though.

Soon after Reddy's hat-trick, MP were 37 for 4 in the seventh over when Venkatesh Iyer also fell. But a 73-run fifth-wicket stand between Rishabh Chouhan and Rahul Batham ensured MP faced no further hiccups, and eventually won with four wickets and 15 balls to spare. Chouhan scored 47 in 43 balls and Batham finished unbeaten on 35 off 32.

Earlier, Tripuresh Singh had struck in the first over for MP, removing both Ashwin Hebbar and Shaik Rasheed for ducks. From 7 for 2, Reddy and KS Bharat added 50 for the third wicket. Iyer broke the stand between Reddy and Bharat when he had the latter caught and bowled for 39 to trigger a collapse. Andhra lost 8 for 55 to be bowled out for 112. Shivam Shukla bagged 4 for 23 - including the wicket of Reddy for 23 - and Tripuresh 3 for 31. Batham also pocketed two wickets, as four Andhra batters were dismissed without scoring.

Sent in to bat, Punjab posted a mammoth 235 for 6 against Jharkhand, thanks to Salil Arora's unbeaten 125 off 45 balls. They were 62 for 3 in eight overs, but Arora's knock - featuring nine fours and 11 sixes - ensured the second half was full of runs.

In response, Jharkhand captain and opener Ishan Kishan led the way with his 23-ball 47. By the time he fell in the seventh over, Jharkhand had raced to 88.

No. 3 Kumar Kushagra then drove the chase with his unbeaten 86 off 42, which included eight fours and four sixes. He was well-complemented by Anukul Roy (37 off 17) and Pankaj Kumar (39* off 18). In the latter's company, Kushagra hit the winning runs to seal a stunning chase with six wickets and 11 balls to spare.

Mohammed Siraj's 3 for 21 led a superb bowling effort from Hyderabad to stifle a Mumbai line-up with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane and Sarfaraz Khan as the top three. None of their batters crossed 30 in an innings that came to a halt at 130 all out.

In response, the Hyderabad openers - Aman Rao (52* off 29) and Tanmay Agarwal (75 off 40) - knocked off most of the required runs. By the time Agarwal fell in the 12th over, they were just four runs away from their target.

Hyderabad won by nine wickets, with 49 balls to spare. Their huge margin of victory pushes them to the top of their Super League table, with an excellent NRR of 4.605.

Haryana asked Rajasthan to bat, and Ishant Bhardwaj and Anshul Kamboj reduced them to 29 for 4 within six overs. Mahipal Lomror and Shubham Garhwal briefly helped Rajasthan recover, while Rahul Chahar provided a late impetus with the bat. But their total of 132 didn't prove to be competitive enough.

Haryana won with seven wickets and 22 balls to spare as captain Ankit Kumar led the chase with 60 off 41 balls. While Ankit played a steady hand, his opening partner Arsh Ranga was the aggressor. Ranga smashed 27 off 12 balls - 24 in boundaries - to lay the foundation of the chase before Ankit and Yashvardhan Dalal added 52 for the second wicket.

Ankit fell within touching distance of the win when Chahar dismissed him in the 16th over. Chahar's 1 for 17 in four overs were the most economical figures for Rajasthan. Every other bowler went for at least nine runs an over. This was Haryana's fifth successive win in the tournament.