Urvil Patel’s 37-ball 119 powers Gujarat to 8-wicket win

Skipper Urvil Patel went on a six-hitting spree en route to a ruthless unbeaten 119 as Gujarat blew away Services by eight wickets to open their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) campaign on a rampaging note in a Group C fixture here on Wednesday.

Patel, making his debut as T20 captain, made a mockery of the Services attack, smashing 12 fours and 10 sixes in his whirlwind 37-ball assault.

The 27-year-old, retained by Chennai Super Kings, raced to his century in just 31 balls -- the second-fastest T20 hundred by an Indian.

Patel and Abhishek Sharma jointly hold the record for the fastest T20 hundred by an Indian, having reached the mark in 28 balls in the 2024-25 edition against Tripura and Meghalaya respectively.

In 2023, Patel had also struck a 41-ball ton against Chandigarh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The wicket-keeper batter shared a blistering 174-run opening stand with Aarya Desai (60 off 35) to overhaul the target of 183 in just 12.3 overs at the Gymkhana Ground.

Earlier, sent in to bat, Services managed 182 for nine with opener Gaurav Kochar top-scoring with a 37-ball 60 studded with seven fours and two sixes.

Their innings never really took off as wickets fell regularly, with Arzan Nagwaswalla (2/38) and Hemang Patel (2/21) picking up two apiece. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Punjab began their campaign with a five-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh.

Opting to bowl, Punjab restricted HP to 147 for eight, with none of the batters, including Innesh Mahajan (33) and Nikhil Gangta (35), able to convert starts. Harpreet Brar (2/14) and Gurnoor Brar (2/32) claimed two wickets each. In reply, Punjab cruised to 153 for five in 13.5 overs, powered by Anmolpreet Singh (43) and Salil Arora (36).

In another Group C match, Puducherry defeated Haryana by five runs. Pougajendy Akash smashed a 23-ball 60 as Puducherry posted 201 for nine, riding on a solid show by the top and middle-order batsmen after Haryana opted to bowl.

In reply, Haryana could only manage 196 for six, despite a 47-ball 90 by opener Arsh Ranga and a 31-ball 52 by Yashvardhan Dalal. Skipper Aman Khan (4/28) was the pick of the bowlers, taking four wickets.

Brief Scores:

Gujarat 183/2 in 12.3 overs (Urvil Patel 119 not out; Mohit Rathee 2/39) beat Services 182/9 in 20 overs (Gaurav Kochar 60; Arzan Nagwaswalla 2/38, Hemang Patel 2/21) by 8 wickets

Punjab 153/5 in 13.5 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 43; Vaibhav Arora 2/23) beat Himachal Pradesh 147/8 in 20 overs (Innesh Mahajan 33, Nikhil Gangta 35; Harpreet Brar 2/14).

Puducherry 201 for nine in 20 overs (Pougajendy Akash 60; Nishant Sindhu 2/28) beat Haryana 196 for 6 in 20 overs (Arsh Ranga 90; Aman Khan 4/28) by five runs.

Smaran shines in Karnataka victory

Ahmedabad: Ravichandran Smaran gave another reminder about his unlimited potential with a well-timed fifty, guiding Karnataka to a five-wicket win over Uttarakhand in the opening Group D match of the Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Trophy here on Wednesday.

Once Uttarakhand posted a competitive 197 for five in 20 overs, Karnataka’s task was cut out. Skipper Kunal Chandela (88, 49 balls, 7x4, 5x6) and Aanjaneya Suryavanshi (54, 36b, 5x4, 3x6) added 122 runs for the fourth wicket as Uttarakhand recovered from a shaky 32 for three.

Pacer Vidwath Kaverappa was the stand out performer for Karnataka, taking three wickets while conceding 37 runs.  Karnataka slipped to 15 for two, losing Karun Nair and KL Shrijith but Mayank Agarwal and Smaran took their side to 99 through an alliance of 84 runs for the third wicket.But quick wickets of skipper Agarwal, Smaran and Abhinav Manohar reduced Karnataka to 128 for five in 13.2 overs.

The former champions needed 70 runs off 6.4 overs at that stage. But late-order batters Praveen Dubey (38, 24b) and Shubbang Hegde (29, 18b) knocked off those runs to take Karnataka past the target in the last ball of the match.  Left-arm pacer Rajan Kumar (3/24) was the most successful bowler for Uttarakhand.

Brief scores:

Uttarakhand: 197/5 in 20 overs (Kunal Chandela 88, Aanjaneya Suryavanshi 54; Vidwath Kaverappa 3/37) lost to Karnataka: 198/5 in 20 overs (R Smaran 67, Praveen Dubey 38 not out, Shubhang Hegde 29 not out; Rajan Kumar 3/24) by 5 wickets. Karnataka: 4 points; Uttarakhand: 0.

Tripura: 123 all out in 19.3 overs (M Murasingh 56, Hanuma Vihari 31; Jaydev Unadkat 3/19, Chirag Jani 3/19) lost to Saurashtra: 124/6 in 16 overs (Ruchir Ahir 29 not out, Vishvaraj Jadeja 28; Swapnil Singh 2/12) by 4 wickets.

Saurashtra: 4 points, Tripura: 0.

Tamil Nadu: 169/8 in 20 overs (Sonu Yadav 43 not out, N Jagadeesan 29; Ashok Sharma 4/40, Manav Suthar 2/22) lost to Rajasthan: 170/4 in 16.3 overs (Deepak Hooda 76 not out, Kartik Sharma 36; T Natarajan 2/16) by 6 wickets.