Gujarat hand Maharashtra an eight-wicket thrashing

A stroke-filled 87 by opener Asad Pathan helped Gujarat thrash Maharashtra by eight wickets in the inaugural match of the West Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy at the Motera 'B' ground here today.
Asad, who was dropped twice during his innings, hit seven sixes and six fours in his 44-ball knock as Gujarat overhauled Maharashtra's 147-8 in 14.2 overs, to begin their campaign on a winning note.
The Bharuch-based Asad, who opened the innings for Gujarat with captain and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, was severe on spinners. He hit two sixes in the fifth over off the bowling of Shubham Ranjane as Gujarat raced away to 67 in six overs, despite losing Parthiv early.

The dimunitive wicket-keeper had hit four crisp boundaries in his short innings and provided the initial momentum. Parthiv was out for 18 trying to loft pacer Samad Fallah over the infield, caught at mid-off by Kedar Jadhav.
Niraj Patel, who came to bat in at Number 3, anchored the innings even as Asad hit boundaries at will. Even after the powerplay ended, the opener hit a six over mid-wicket off the bowling of off-spinner Ankit Bawne before being dropped by Akshay Darekar in the next ball at long-on.
The drop proved to be a costly one as Asad cut left-arm spinner Darekar behind point for a boundary and pulled him over mid-wicket for another four in the next over as the home team accumulated 90 in eight overs.

In need of a wicket to get back into the contest, visiting captain Rohit Motwani brought back his strike bowler Fallah to the attack and he responded by trapping southpaw Niraj with a low, full ball in front of the wicket. Niraj, had however, played his part by adding 86 runs for the second wicket with Asad.