India’s Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma didn’t have the best of times during the second round of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as both batters failed to make an impact with the bat for Kerala and Punjab, respectively. Samson and Abhishek have been key members of the Indian T20I setup and are nailed down to secure spots in the squad for the upcoming series against South Africa.
However, Samson registered just 19 runs off 25 balls in the match against Railways while Abhishek was dismissed for six in Punjab’s encounter with Haryana. Samson had made a great start to the SMAT campaign, scoring a fifty in their 10-wicket win over Odisha. Railways batted first and posted a total of 149 for seven in their 20 overs.
Kerala made a slow start to the chase, and they lost Rohan Kunnummal early. They lost Ahammed Imran and then Samson quickly as the wicketkeeper-batter fell to veteran spinner Karn Sharma.
Kerala kept falling behind in the run chase and ultimately lost the match by 32 runs.
ABHISHEK FAIL IN HIGH-SCORING THRILLER
High-scoring matches have been one where Abhishek have stamped his name on in the past but the clash against Haryana saw the No.1 T20I batter fail. The Indian opener failed in the first game against Himachal Pradesh and was looking to bounce back strongly.
Haryana posted 207 runs on the back of Nishant Sindhu’s brilliant 61 and a fifty from skipper Ankit Kumar. Punjab’s chase of the target got off to a flying start as Prabhsimran Singh scored 20 off just 10 balls before being dismissed by Anhsul Kamboj in the third over.
Kamboj then dismissed Abhishek, creating panic in the Punjab camp. Anmolpreet Singh scored a brilliant 81 off 37 balls and a 16-ball 30 from Sanvir Singh helped Punjab to get close to the target. The match ended in a tie after Punjab got just one run off the last ball.
Abhishek once again failed to impress in the Super Over as he was dismissed for a first ball duck. Punjab got just one run before Sanvir was also dismissed for a duck. Haryana won the match off the first ball with Sindhu hitting a boundary.
– Ends
