KOLKATA” Jammu & Kashmir held their nerve to beat Chandigarh by 29 runs in a high-energy Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Elite Group B clash on Tuesday. Chasing 192, Chandigarh were restricted to 163–7 in 20 overs as J&K’s bowlers produced timely breakthroughs to close out the contest.
Match report
Chandigarh won the toss and elected to field, but it was Jammu & Kashmir who posted the stronger total. A series of measured contributions powered J&K to 192 all out in 20 overs.
- Yawer Hassan led the charge with a fluent 57 off 36 (4×4, 4×6), scoring at a strike rate of 158.33.
- Captain Shubham Khajuria provided support with 43 off 30 (SR 143.33).
- Abdul Samad offered the late acceleration with 23 off 10 (SR 230.00).
- Useful cameos included Kanhaiya Wadhawan 21 (15) and Nasir Lone 15 (7).
- Extras: 8 (b4, w4).
Chandigarh’s bowling saw mixed returns. Bhagmender Lather finished with 2–39, while Jagjit Singh picked up 2 wickets but was expensive (4–0–57–2).
Chandigarh’s chase began positively but wickets at regular intervals stalled momentum.
- Gaurav Puri top-scored for Chandigarh with 39 off 23 (4×6), and Arjun Azad (c) added 38 off 26 (4×4, 1×6).
- Manan Vohra contributed 32 off 25 including three sixes.
- Nikhil Thakur (wk) scored 14 off 7.
- Two middle-order run-outs (Nehal Pajni run out by Auqib Nabi; Nikhil Thakur run out by Murugan Ashwin/credited) and tight death bowling tilted the game in J&K’s favour.
Jammu & Kashmir’s bowling unit did the rest:
- Yudhvir Singh Charak returned 4–0–32–2, providing crucial middle-overs control.
- Auqib Nabi Dar finished with 3.0–0–22–1, bowling well at the start of the chase.
- Murugan Ashwin (4–0–33–1) and Lone Nasir Muzaffar (4–0–29–1) also chipped in with important scalps.
- Abid Mushtaq and Umran Malik kept the scoreboard in check with tight overs at the death.
J&K closed out the match by defending 192, bowling out Chandigarh to 163–7, and collecting two valuable points in Elite Group B
