Mumbai, Feb 28 (IANS) Veteran India players Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik made a return to competitive cricket, but it went in vain as DY Patil Blue lost by just one run to Tata Sports Club in the 18th edition of the ongoing DY Patil T20 Cup 2024 at the DY Patil Ground in Talegaon on Wednesday.
In the Group B match, Tata Sports Club batted first and posted 185/9 in their 20 overs. Chinmay Sugar (51 off 29 balls, 8×4) added 54 runs for the fifth wicket with Apoorva Wankhede (83 not out off 42 balls, 7×4, 5×6).
For DY Patil Blue the best bowlers were skipper Vipul Krishnan (4-42) and Ajay Singh (2-32). The chase for Blue started off well as their openers Abhijit Tomar and Dhawan (39 off 28 balls, 5×4, 2×6) added 64 runs in 7.1 overs.
Then Nutan Goel remained unbeaten on 38 off 35 balls and he added a valuable 58 runs for the fifth wicket with Shubham Dubey (42 runs off 18 balls, 6×4, 2×6). Karthik was then dismissed for a first-ball duck but with the gloves took the important catch of Samarth Vyas.
In the end DY Patil Blue fell short by just one run to finish on 184/7 in their 20 overs. While Dhawan will be captaining Punjab Kings in IPL 2024, Karthik just wrapped up a TV commentary stint of the fourth India-England Test at Ranchi and will be representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the tournament starting on March 22.
In the other game of Group C at the DY Patil Stadium in Nerul, Canara Bank prevailed over Bank of Baroda by two wickets in a nail-biting finish, with just two balls to spare. Asked to bat first, Bank of Baroda posted 151/8 in their 20 overs.
Rohan Kadam (76 not out off 54 balls, 11×4) was the top-scorer for Bank of Baroda, while Manoj Bhandage was the best bowler for Canara Bank with his spell of 3-34. In response, MG Naveen made 47 not out off 27 balls (including 4×4, 3×6), while Pallav Kumar Das (31) was the other key contributor with the bat as Canara Bank chased the total in 19.4 overs.
For Bank of Baroda the best bowlers were Kushang Patel (2-19) and skipper K Gowtham (2-27). Thursday is a rest day in the tournament, which has seen players like Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan return to competitive cricket action in the last two days.
Brief Scores: Tata Sports Club 185-9 in 20 overs (Apoorva Wankhede 83 not out, Chinmay Sutar 51; Vipul Krishnan 4-42, Ajay Singh 2-32) beat DY Patil Blue 184-7 in 20 overs (Shubham Dubey 42, Shikhar Dhawan 39; Vivek Shelar 2-28, Aditya Dhumal 2-45) by one run
Bank of Baroda 151-8 in 20 overs (Rohan Kadam 76 not out; Manoj Bhandage 3-34) lost to Canara Bank 152-8 in 19.4 overs (MG Naveen 47 not out, Pallav Kumar Das 31; Kushang Patel 2-19, K Gowtham 2-27) by two wickets
–IANS
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