Mumbai, Dec 03: A trademark swashbuckling innings by J&K’s batting mainstay Shubham Khajuria, coupled with explosive knock by Qamran Iqbal and disciplined bowling show by the spinning duo of Murugan Ashwin and Abid Mushtaq powered Jammu and Kashmir to a crucial victory over the strong side of Uttar Pradesh, thus eyeing for a spot in the knockouts of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy at Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy, BKC Mumbai on Tuesday.
Chasing a fighting target of 158 runs, J&K’s opening duo of Shubham Khajuria and Qamran Iqbal began in style, hitting a series of fours and sixes to score 60 in 5.5 overs before Qamran was dismissed at his individual score of 37 runs off 20 balls, studded with 3 fours and 3 massive sixes.
Khajuria continued his batting brilliance and along with Abdul Samad (22 off 22 balls) helped Jammu and Kashmir chase the target in 19.1 overs by losing 4 wickets, thus guiding J&K to 6-wicket victory.
Khajuria remained unconquered at 85 runs off 59 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. He hit the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohsin Khan and Shivam Mavi with awe-inspiring touch and struck the boundaries and sixes with fluid grace and utter brilliance.
Mohsin Khan took 2 wickets for Uttar Pradesh, while Vineet Panwar and Vipraj Nigam claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, put into bat, Uttar Pradesh after a sedate start rode on slog over fireworks by Shivam Mavi, scored a fighting total of 157 runs. Mavi top scored with 14-ball 39 with 4 fours and 3 sixes, while Sameer Rizvi (25), Rinku Singh (24), Priyam Garg (22) and Aryan Juyal (19) were the other contributors.
For J&K, M Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers who took 3 wickets by conceding 24 runs in his 4 overs, while Abid Mushtaq bagged 2 wickets and Rasikh claimed one.
For his splendid batting display, Shubham Khajuria was adjudged as the player of the match.
In the last outing at the group stage, J&K will face Haryana on December 5, while Uttar Pradesh will lock horns with Jharkhand on the same date. Delhi tops the points table with 20 points along with Jharkhand, while Uttar Pradesh and J&K have 16 points each in their kitty.
