Captain Nitish Rana smashed a magnificent hundred as Delhi comfortably beat Punjab by 12 runs in a group B league fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament here on Wednesday.
Rana, a T20 specialist and Kolkata Knight Riders star, was simply too good for the Punjab bowling unit as he scored 107 off only 61 balls with the help of nine fours and seven sixes to take Delhi to a solid 191 for 4 in 20 overs.
In reply, Punjab could only manage 179 for 5 with Ishant Sharma picking up 2 for 35 in his 4 overs.
Rana also did star turn with his off-breaks, picking 2/24 in 3 overs.
Earlier, Rana scored his maiden T20 hundred off only 55 balls and also added 173 runs in just 16.4 overs with U-19 World Cup-winning India captain Yash Dhull (66 not out off 45 balls), who also got his first half-century in shortest format.
Dhull, playing only his second T20 game, smashed four fours and as many sixes.
Vyas sizzles
Indore: Samarth Vyas blazed away to 97 off 52 balls to power Saurashtra to a four-wicket win over Baroda in a group D fixture here.
Chasing 176, Vyas single-handedly steered Saurashtra to their highest successful run chase in the tournament.
With 96 needed of the last eight overs, the 26-year-old upped the ante.
He first hit impact substitute Safvan Patel, who came in for Dhruv Patel, for a four to bring up his fifty in style and then whacked two sixes to collect 20 runs of the 14th over.
In the groove, Vyas along with Jay Gohill (17 not out) plundered 45 runs off the next two overs. The duo hit four maximums and three boundaries.
Vyas unfortunately feel three runs short of what would have been a well-deserved century. His innings was studded with nine sixes and five fours.
Earlier, Mitesh Patel and Vishnu Solanki struck scintillating half-centuries to help Baroda post a challenging 175 for 4.
In the day and night game, Bihar trounced Nagaland by six wicket in a low scoring match.
Tamil Nadu win
Lucknow: Defending champions Tamil Nadu outplayed Odisha by five wickets in a group E fixture here.
Skipper Baba Aparajith (63 not out) played the role of sheet anchor to perfection, notching up an unbeaten 63-run knock after Tamil Nadu bowlers, led by T Natarajan, restricted Odisha to below 150.
Opting to bat, Odisha rode on half-centuries by Subhranshu Senapati (65) and Anshy Rath (51) to post 141/3.
In reply, Tamil Nadu got off to a strong start despite Gujarat Titans player Sai Sudershan's (14) dismissal in the fourth over.
CSK opener N Jagadeesan (35) slammed three boundaries and a six and added 48 runs with Aparajith. But the Odisha bowlers did well to stage a comeback as they picked up a flurry of wickets to rattle to defending champions.
With the wickets falling like ninepins at the other end, Aparajith kept his calm and continued with business as usual.
The 28-year-old batting all-rounder sent the ball to the fence seven times and was ably supported by M Shahrukh Khan (19) as the two shared a vital 46-ran stand.
In the end, Tamil Nadu knocked off the target with seven balls to spare.
Earlier, out-of favour left-arm medium pacer Natarajan (2/32) did well to break the partnership between Senapati and Rath.
In another match in the group, Gaurav Puri slammed an unbeaten 47-ball 93 to power Chandigarh to a 66-run win over Sikkim.