By Admin 
At just 18 years of age, Ayush Mhatre (110 n.o., 53b, 8×4, 8×6) has a precocious sense of occasion. With national selector RP Singh in attendance at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B here on Friday, Mhatre slammed a whirlwind maiden T20 century, off just 49 balls, to propel Mumbai to a seven-wicket win against Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
He zoomed past his previous best of 94 with consecutive sixes, clearing long-on, before raising his ton with another maximum; this one over Umesh Yadav’s head. He sent the next ball sailing, too, over long-on, for good measure.
Mhatre’s blitz and Shivam Dube’s 19-ball 39 ensured the job was done in just 17.5 overs, despite Ajinkya Rahane falling for a duck.
Mumbai’s chase could have been trickier had Vidarbha capitalised on the rollicking start provided by openers Atharva Taide and Aman Mokhade, who added 115 runs inside 10 overs.
However, left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar’s twin strikes in the 10th over pegged Vidarbha back. Then, all-rounders Sairaj Patil and Dube reaped the dividends of bowling short and slow on a ground with large square boundaries, as Vidarbha lost nine wickets for 77 runs and settled for a total that was eventually brushed aside.
Earlier in the morning, at the same venue, Kerala made heavy weather of a straightforward chase against Railways, and fell short by 32 runs.
Four of Kerala’s top five batters perished playing cross-batted shots. Ahammed Imran and Vishnu Vinod fatally swept the spinners, while Rohan Kunnummal and Abdul Bazith miscued their pull shots. Sanju Samson, off the blocks with a punch through cover for four and a six down the ground, found long-on in the 10th over with 43 on the board. From there, Kerala unravelled quickly, undoing the hard work of its bowlers, who conceded 28 runs in the last five overs to restrict Railways.
Contrastingly, Andhra’s batters and bowlers fired in unison to rout Odisha by 66 runs. Its top three batters made valuable contributions, and all five of its bowlers picked at least a wicket each to power Andhra to a second successive win.<drop_initial>At just 18 years of age, Ayush Mhatre (110 n.o., 53b, 8×4, 8×6) has a precocious sense of occasion. With national selector RP Singh in attendance at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B here on Friday, Mhatre slammed a whirlwind maiden T20 century, off just 49 balls, to propel Mumbai to a seven-wicket win against Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
He zoomed past his previous best of 94 with consecutive sixes, clearing long-on, before raising his ton with another maximum; this one over Umesh Yadav’s head. He sent the next ball sailing, too, over long-on, for good measure.
Mhatre’s blitz and Shivam Dube’s 19-ball 39 ensured the job was done in just 17.5 overs, despite Ajinkya Rahane falling for a duck.
Mumbai’s chase could have been trickier had Vidarbha capitalised on the rollicking start provided by openers Atharva Taide and Aman Mokhade, who added 115 runs inside 10 overs.
However, left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar’s twin strikes in the 10th over pegged Vidarbha back. Then, all-rounders Sairaj Patil and Dube reaped the dividends of bowling short and slow on a ground with large square boundaries, as Vidarbha lost nine wickets for 77 runs and settled for a total that was eventually brushed aside.
Earlier in the morning, at the same venue, Kerala made heavy weather of a straightforward chase against Railways, and fell short by 32 runs.
Four of Kerala’s top five batters perished playing cross-batted shots. Ahammed Imran and Vishnu Vinod fatally swept the spinners, while Rohan Kunnummal and Abdul Bazith miscued their pull shots. Sanju Samson, off the blocks with a punch through cover for four and a six down the ground, found long-on in the 10th over with 43 on the board. From there, Kerala unravelled quickly, undoing the hard work of its bowlers, who conceded 28 runs in the last five overs to restrict Railways.
Contrastingly, Andhra’s batters and bowlers fired in unison to rout Odisha by 66 runs. Its top three batters made valuable contributions, and all five of its bowlers picked at least a wicket each to power Andhra to a second successive win.