Opener Shikhar Dhawan’s (24 off 22 balls) lean patch continued but Delhi still managed to register a comfortable 77-run win over Maharashtra in their opening Super League match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament here on Thursday.
Delhi made 167 for five after being invited to bat and then produced a disciplined bowling effort to bundle out Maharashtra for 90 in 17.2 overs. Part-time off-spinner Nitish Rana stole the show with the ball with figures of four for 17.
Meanwhile in the other two matches, Punjab thrashed Jharkhand by 109 runs with skipper Mandeep Singh top-scoring with an unbeaten 81.
At the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, Baroda defeated Rajasthan by 15 runs. For Baroda, opener Aditya Waghmode stuck a quick-fire 88.
While in the last game, riding on blazing fifties by K L Rahul and skipper Manish Pandey, defending champions Karnataka thrashed Tamil Nadu by nine wickets to begin their Super League campaign on a winning note.
Karnataka chased a stiff 159-run target in just 16. 2 overs as Rahul (69 not out off 46 balls) and Pandey (52 not out off 33 balls) hammered a pedestrian Tamil Nadu attack in the premier domestic T20 tournament.
Earlier, put into bat, Tamil Nadu posted a decent 158/7 on the board with their skipper Dinesh Karthik leading from the front with a brisk 43 off 29 balls.