Smit guides Guj to Claim Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Bhubaneswar: Wicketkeeper and opening batsman Smit Patel's unbeaten 50 helped Gujarat ace a tense chase against Punjab to win their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title at KIIT Ground here on Sunday. Chasing 118, Gujara finished with two wickets and one ball to spare.
Punjab's bowlers kept the defence of a middling total going by striking early, and reducing Gujarat to 19 for 2 by the fifth over. Smit and Rujul Bhatt stitched together a 35-run partnership but that brief period of stability was nearly undone after the side lost three wickets in as many overs to slip from 54 for 2 to 60 for 5 in the 12th.
Another small partnership - this time for the sixth wicket between Smit and Jesal Karia was followed by another slide, leaving Gujarat at 110 for 8 in the 19th over. Smit, however, kept his nerve and guided the side home, finishing unbeaten on 50 off 49 balls, his second successive T20 fifty. Earlier, Rohit Dahiya's 4 for 15 limited Punjab to 117. Punjab had a promising start after being put in to bat as the openers added 23 in 4.4 overs before Dahiya broke the stand. Gujarat's attack capitalised on the breakthrough and Punjab were quickly reduced to 76 for 5. Dahiya returned towards the end of the innings to limit them further, striking twice in the 19th over as Punjab ended their innings at 117 for 9.
OCA secretary Asirbad Behera distributed the prizes as the chief guest of the closing ceremony. Among others, OCA joint secretary Sanjib Dutta, vice president Dhiren Palai, treasurer Satya Mohanty, CEO Bidyut Kumar Nayak, KIIT University register Sasmita Samanta, Sports director Gaganedu Dash, Sports officer Rashmita Mohanty, DRIEMS Director Naba Kishore Mishra, Naba Ranjan Pattnaik, Gurjit Singh and Subhasis Bhuyan were present.
Brief Score: Punjab 117/9 in 20 overs (Ravi Inder Singh 30, Himanshu Chawla 23; Rohit Dahiya 4/15, Jesal B Karia 2/28) lost to Gujarat 123/8 in 19.5 overs (Smit K Patel 50 n.o; Rujul H Bhatt 23; Sidharth Kaul 2/28, Taruwar Kohil 2/20) by 2 wickets.
OSJA election held
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Sports Journalists Association (OSJA) new office bearers elected unanimously in the annual general body meeting held at here on Sunday. K Rabi and Sanatan Pani reelected as president and working president respectively and Suresh swain reelected as secretary for the period of 2015-16. Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) has been allotted the OSJA to organize the annual funaction in the year 2016. To make the event grand success a committee has been formed. The secretary and the committee members will meet regular basis. Susanata Mohanty, Sanjib Biswal, Umakant Mishra (vice-president), Sambit Mohapatra, Debi Prasan Mohanty (joint secretary), Himanshu Pati Mishra (treasurer), Sandip Mishra, Samikhya Pattnaik, Tapan Kumar Swain, Niranjan Reddy, Sarbeswar Mohanty, Debasis Sundaray (executive member).