Yuzvendra Chahal has not been at his best in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023. He had picked just three wickets from four games despite being economical. Against Mizoram at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Chahal was not just economical in the middle overs but cleaned up the tail to bundle out the opposition for a paltry 58 to help Haryana win by 95 runs.
Mizoram skipper Lalhruai Ralte won the toss and opted to bowl first. Haryana lost their opener Ankit Kumar early in the innings to Mohit Jangra. Skipper Harshit Rana could not make use of the fielding restrictions and departed for a run-a-ball 14. Harshal Patel opened the batting and scored 30 runs from 26 balls before becoming Ralte’s second victim of the day.
Nishant Sindhu could not hit a single boundary in his 22-ball 18. Vanlal Remruata got the better of him in the 15th over. Wicketkeeper-batter Rohit Pramod Sharma and Rahul Tewatia helped Haryana score big in the slog overs. Rohit got run out in the penultimate over but not before scoring 50 runs from 27 balls. Tewatia remained unbeaten for 18-ball 26 to take Haryana's score to 153/5.
After the bowlers did a good job of restricting Haryana batters from going berserk, their batters disappointed. Agni Chopra was the first to ball in the third over to Anshul Kamboj. Lalhruaizela played too many dot deliveries before Sumit Kumar got his wicket in the sixth over. He scored just one run from 15 balls. Joseph Lalthankhuma, Jehu Anderson and Vikash Kumar got out in a matter of just five balls. Ankit and Sumit reduced Mizoram to 35/5 in the eighth over. Jangra became Sumit's fourth victim of the day.
Then Chahal did not let the tail wag. F Lalmuanzuala, KC Cariappa, Ralte, and skipper Remruatdika Ralte departed without making an impact. Mizoram were bowled out for 58 from 14.5 overs. Chahal conceded just eight runs from the 3.5 overs he bowled as Haryana won the game by a margin of 95 runs to boost their net run rate (NRR).
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