Mumbai, Nov 23: Promising opening batter Qamran Iqbal and talented middle-order batsman Abdul Samad were at their murderous best to power Jammu and Kashmir to a convincing victory by 25 runs over formidable Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match at Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC, Mumbai on Saturday.
Put into bat, J&K scored a massive total of 224 runs in the stipulated 20 overs.
The opening duo of explosive Qamran Iqbal and experienced Shubham Khajuria gave a flying start to J&K innings and scored 51 runs in 4.3 overs before Shubham was dismissed on his individual score of 20 runs off just 12 balls studded with one four and 2 sixes, while Qamran continued his sublime touch and alongwith Vivrant Sharma (15) added another 47 runs to the score, thus making it 98/2 in 9.1 overs when Qamran was dismissed on his individual score of power-packed 61 runs off 32 balls studded with 3 fours and 6 massive sixes. He simply butchered the rival bowlers with power, punch and utmost timing.
Then cracking 74 not out off just 29 balls with 5 fours and 7 massive sixes by Abdul Samad and valuable contributions of 28 runs by skipper Paras Dogra and unbeaten 12 off 7 balls by Abid Mushtaq guided J&K to a big total of 224 runs in 20 overs.
Bal Krishna took 2 wickets, while Vivek Anand Tiwari and Utkarsh Singh claimed one wicket each for Jharkhand.
In reply, Jharkhand scored 199 runs in the allotted 20 overs to lose the match by 25 runs.
Pankaj Kumar top scored with 56 runs off 32 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes, while Utkarsh Singh contributed 54 off 28 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Bal Krishna (33) and skipper Virat Singh (24) were the other major contributors.
Abid Mushtaq was the most successful bowler for J&K who took 4 wickets by conceding 42 runs in his 4 overs while Murugan Ashwin and Rasikh Salam bagged 2 wickets each and Yudhvir Singh claimed one wicket.
