For many times, the Indian pacer Deepak Chahar has wished to perform with the bat too. While he has shown his good batting skills in some first-class and List A matches, recently he has also shown it in T20 cricket. His batting helped his team to secure their place for the semi-final of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019/20.
On Wednesday (27th November), Deepak Chahar-led side Rajasthan played their last match of the Super League stage (Group A) of SMAT 2019/20 against Delhi, which was the must-win game for both the sides.
After winning the toss, Deepak Chahar decided to bat first. However, his team struggled from the very first ball of that game. The Rajasthan captain came to bat when his team were struggling on 50/5. He took the responsibility to handle that situation and played a remarkable captain’s knock.
The right-handed lower-middle order batsman Deepak Chahar hit his maiden T20 half-century and stretched the first innings total to the challenging position. He remained not out on 55 runs off 42 balls with seven sixes while his team managed to score 133/7 (20 overs). Apart from him, only Rajesh Bishnoi (36) and Salman Khan (23) managed to play the double-digit knocks in that innings.
Deepak Chahar failed to open his wicket column
In reply, they restricted Delhi to 131/9 in 20 overs. Captain Deepak Chahar this time failed to take a wicket as he had the bowling figures of 4-1-27-0. However, Arjit Gupta (3/12) took three wickets in that innings while the skipper’s cousin brother Rahul Chahar (2/26), Indian left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed (2/30) and another left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary (2/35) bagged two wickets each.
After this victory, Rajasthan earned eight points while Delhi stayed with just four points. While Haryana finished as the Group A champions with 12 points, Rajasthan managed eight points just like Maharashtra and Baroda in that group. However, Deepak Chahar-led team have advanced to the semi-final due to the better run-rate.
Group B champions Tamil Nadu will face Rajasthan in the first semi-final of this tournament on 29th November. Meanwhile, Haryana will meet the Group B runners-up Karnataka in the second semi-final of this tournament on the same date (29th November).
Deepak Chahar is currently running in a dream form, especially in this month. In the early of this month, he became the first Indian to claim a T20I hat-trick and also achieved the record bowling figures in T20I history (6/7). He has continued his impressive form in the ongoing domestic T20 tournament.