Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Delhi qualify for Super League after topping group with 20-run win over Odisha

All-rounder Lalit Yadav claimed three wickets with his off-breaks as Delhi notched up a comprehensive 20-run win over Odisha in their final Group 'E' match to qualify for the Super League of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Monday.

Electing to bat, Delhi posted 149 for six and then returned to dismiss Odisha for 129 in 18.1 overs to complete the win and top Group E with 22 points from seven matches.

Going through a rough patch, Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with a 33-ball 35 which comprised three fours and a six. However his struggle was apparent against an unfancied Odisha attack. He failed to get going.

Earlier, Delhi batsmen, including opener Hiten Dalal (20) and first-down Dhruv Shorey (26), got starts but none could convert them into big scores but they did enough to help the team post a decent score on board.

For Odisha, Abhishek Raut (2/21) took two wickets, while Govinda Poddar (1/18), Suryakant Pradhan (1/31), Pappu Roy (1/35) and Subham Nayak (1/29) accounted for one wicket each.

Defending the total, Yadav returned with impressive figures of 3.1-1-10-3 and he was ably supported by Pawan Negi (2/38) and Nitish Rana (2/6) as the trio derailed Odisha's chase.

Odisha had a disastrous start and were looking down the barrel at 36 for 5 in 7.2 overs.

Down the order, Suryakant Pradhan smashed a 20-ball 48 laced with six hits to the fence but it was not enough.

In another Group E match, Chintan Gaja (4/15) snapped four wickets before Kshitij Patel blasted a 36-ball 44 as Gujarat thrashed Jammu and Kashmir by 8 wickets.

Sent to bat, J & K folded for a paltry 101 in 18.3 overs, thanks to Gaja and Hardik Patel (3/17), who shared seven wickets between them.

Piyush Chawla (2/19) and Axar Patel (1/23) also contributed with the ball.

Chasing the total, Kshitij top-scored with an unbeaten 44 off 36 balls, while Chirag Gandhi (32) and Urvil Patel (22) chipped in with useful contributions as Gujarat scored 102 for 2 in 13.3 overs.

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