By Admin 
Mumbai’s star-studded batting line-up imploded spectacularly as the defending champion squandered a winning position and slipped to a 15-run defeat against Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B ground here on Thursday.
Needing 49 runs to win in the last five overs with six wickets in hand, Mumbai was bundled out for 163, with pacer K.M. Asif wreaking havoc with a five-wicket haul.
With 31 runs to get off 18 balls, Asif turned the match on its head with a three-wicket over. Sairaj Patil was castled swinging for the hills, and a couple of deliveries later, a cautious Suryakumar Yadav, who unfurled his trademark scoop to fine-leg only once, found deepsquare-leg. Next ball, Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur got a leading edge to mid-off, putting Kerala on the brink of a heist.
The outcome seemed unlikely during Ajinkya Rahane and Sarfaraz Khan’s 80-run alliance for the second wicket, which steadied Mumbai after Sharafuddeen knocked over Ayush Mhatre’s off-stump in the first over.
Kerala pacer K.M. Asif celebrates after dismissing Mumbai skipper Shardul Thakur.
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SANDEEP SAXENA
However, they fell in quick succession, with Rahane getting a top edge sweeping Vignesh Puthur and Rohan Kunnummal’s stunning dive at deep extra-cover cutting short Sarfaraz’s stay.
The floodgates opened when Vignesh had Shivam Dube stumped, thanks to Sanju Samson’s lightning-quick glovework.
Kerala was at risk of a similar collapse before Sharafuddeen’s 15-ball 35 lower-order cameo. The burly all-rounder, going deep in his crease, smashed Shardul for two fours and a six in the final over, which made all the difference in the end.
Earlier, after opting to bat, Samson blazed his way to 46 off 28 balls, a knock built on solid backfoot play. However, a concerning pattern of dismissals emerged when Samson fell essaying the pull for the fourth time in five innings.
Kerala’s middle-order stumbled as Mohammed Azharuddeen, Salman Nizar and Abdul Bazith perished in the space of 10 deliveries. With Vishnu Vinod struggling with cramps during his stodgy 40-ball 43, Sharafuddeen’s pyrotechnics eventually saved the day.
Later at the same ground, Ashwin Hebbar and Shaik Rasheed’s fifties made light work of Chhattisgarh’s 159-run target, powering Andhra to an eight-wicket win.
The scores: Kerala 178/5 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 46, Vishnu Vinod 43 n.o., Mohammed Azharuddeen 32, Sharafuddeen 32) bt Mumbai 163 in 19.4 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 32, Sarfaraz Khan 52, Suryakumar Yadav 32, KM Asif 5/24). Toss: Kerala.
Assam 175/7 in 20 overs (Abdul Ajij Kuraishi 57, Nihar Deka 52, Yash Thakur 3/36) bt Vidarbha 117 in 17.5 overs (Dhruv Shorey 36, Mukhtar Hussain 3/36, Akash Sengupta 3/12). Toss: Vidarbha.
Chhattisgarh 158/6 in 20 overs (Amandeep Khare 44, Shashank Singh 46) lost to Andhra 159/2 in 18.5 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 50, Shaik Rasheed 59 n.o.). Toss: Chhattisgarh.
Odisha 169/5 in 20 overs (Aashirwad Swain 48, Soumya Lenka 75 n.o.) beat Railways 168 in 20 overs (Suraj Ahuja 39, Akshat Pandey 60, Soumya Lenka 3/50). Toss: Odisha.