Young Yash Dhull showed his T20 credentials with a smashing 71 not out off 46 balls as Delhi easily chased down a tricky target set by Puducherry with seven wickets to spare in a group B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Sunday.
Puducherry scored 168 for eight in 20 overs with Parameeswaran Sivaraman's 43 off 30 balls being the highest contribution. Veteran Ishant Sharma (1/26 in 4 overs) and the seasoned Navdeep Saini (3/37 in 4 overs) bowled at a brisk pace.
Delhi, who had lost their last game against UP after a batting debacle, chased down the target with four balls to spare.
Young Dhull, who has already scored a half-century in the tournament, was at his flawless best as he hit 10 boundaries during the chase.
Delhi needed 56 off 33 balls when skipper Nitish Rana was dismissed for 36 off 26 balls, but Ayush Badoni (32 not out off 15 balls) came in and started smashing the Puducherry bowlers. Badoni hit three fours and a six while adding exactly 56 runs in 4.5 overs with Dhull to seal the issue.
Earlier, skipper Rana used seven bowlers including himself, but still Puducherry still managed close to 170, largely due to Marimuthu Vikneshwaran's 21-ball 39, which was studded with four fours and three sixes.
Saurashtra beat Guj
Indore: Saurashtra's combined effort trumped Chirag Gandhi's individual brilliance as they got the better of Gujarat by three wickets in their Group D match.
Batting first, Gujarat made 162 for seven in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Saurashtra completed the task with exactly an over to spare.
Gandhi top-scored for Gujarat with a blazing 63 off a mere 23 balls, striking six boundaries and four sixes in his whirlwind knock.
In reply, Tarang Gohel blazed away to 19 in 11 balls before being dismissed by Vishal Jayswal. But India's number three batter in Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara carried on to make 38 off 27 balls while forging useful partnerships with Samarth Vyas (33) and captain Jackson (15).
Parth Chauhan struck 25 in 16 balls before Jay Gohil (19 off 14 balls) helped Saurashtra cross the line.
Karnataka win
Mullanpur: Pacer Vidhwath Kaverappa bagged a career-best 5/11 as fancied Karnataka recorded a convincing 34-run win over Jammu & Kashmir in their Group C match.
Batting first, Karnataka were restricted to 147 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs, but the total proved to be more than enough as Jammu & Kashmir were bowled out for 113 in 18.2 overs.
For J & K, India's pace sensation Umran Malik returned figures of 1/37 from his full quota of four overs, while Abid Mushtaq and Rithik Singh picked up two wickets each.
The J & K team kept losing wickets at regular intervals, failing to pose a threat to their much stronger opponents despite Vivrant Sharma's 46-ball 63.
Bengal beat TN
Lucknow: Shahbaz Ahmed produced a brilliant all-round performance to power Bengal to a dominating 43-run win over Tamil Nadu in their Elite Group E match.
The 27-year-old from Haryana led Bengal's aggressive batting display with an unbeaten 27-ball 42 laced with three fours and two maximums to take the team to 164 for six after opting to bat.
He then returned to scalp three crucial wickets with his left-arm spin to completely derail Tamil Nadu's run chase as they ended with 121 for 9 in their stipulated 20 overs.