Rajasthan join MP in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 knockouts

Rajasthan edged past Vidarbha by 11 runs to join table-toppers Madhya Pradesh in the Super League stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trohpy from Central Zone, here today.
Electing to bat at the Holkar Stadium, the Ashok Menaria-led side, which ended second in the table after four games, rode on Puneet Yadav's 48 to post 133 all out in 20 overs.
New-ball bowlers Shrikanth Waghan (4-26) and Ravikumar Thakur (3-26) shared seven wickets between them to restrict the Rajasthan surge.
Chasing 134 for a win, the Subramaniam Badrinath-led side, which ended fifth and last, could only muster 122 for five with opener Himanshu Joshi top-scoring with 38.

In another Central Zone match Railways outplayed Uttar Pradesh by six wickets at the same venue, even as the two teams failed to make the cut for the next stage starting April 1.
Electing to bat, the Akshdeep Nath-led side rode on Piyush Chawla's 44 to post 138 for eight in 20 overs.

Railways medium-pacer Amith Mishra bagged three wickets as leg-apinner Karn Sharma scalped two.
The Railways top-order batsman stood up in unison to help the Karn-led side achieve the target in 18.1 overs.
Openers Vivek Singh (42) and Asad Pathan (38) shared a 57-run opening stand to lay a solid foundation as the rest of the batsmen did the job with clinical precision.

Brief Scores:
Rajasthan 133 all out in 20 overs (Puneet Yadav 48, Chandrapal Singh 19; Shrikanth Waghan 4-26, Ravikumar Thakur 3-26) beat Vidarbha 122/5 in 20 overs (Himanshu Joshi 38, Aditya Shanware 23; Aditya Garhwal 2-7)
Match 2 - Uttar Pradesh 138/8 in 20 overs (Piyush Chawla 44, Akshdeep Nath 22; Amit Mishra 3-17, Karn 2-23) lose to Railways 141/4 in 18.1 overs (Vivek Singh 42, Asad Pathan 38; Kuldeep Yadav 2-30).