Two of India’s T20I members for the England series, Rishabh Pant and Yuzvendra Chahal warmed up their game by producing some stellar performances on the night of 13th DY Patil’s T20 Cup final, to guide Reliance 1 to a victory over DY Patil ‘B’ by 74 runs.
The left-handed batsman Pant stood up to his reputation of being ferocious with the bat, scoring 52 runs off just 24 deliveries. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal then bagged four wickets to see his side home comfortably.
Batting first, Reliance 1 put on a par score of 176 for five on the board, thanks to another half-century from Yogesh Nagar, who notched up 53 off 36 balls. While bowling, paceman Kulwant Singh struck twice, setting up the base before Chahal ripped through the opposition’s batting line-up with his wrist turners.
MSK Prasad-led selection committee picked up the attacking youngster Pant for the shortest format, given his ability to launch his wild strides from the ball go. In the recently concluded Ranji season of 2016/17, the Delhi-born was among the highest run-scores, as he amassed 672 runs in eight matches at an average of 81.
Haryana spinner Chahal was instrumental in keeping his side in the title hunt, as he picked up 33 wickets at an economy of 2.31. His experience of being with the Indian team during Zimbabwe’s tour last year will come in handy, if he gets to play in the T20 series against England, which starts January 26 at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
Scorecard:
Reliance 1: 176/5 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 52, Yogesh Nagar 53*; Pravin Tambe 2/20)
DY Patil ‘B’: 102 in 15.4 overs (Shashank Singh 35; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/13, Kulwant Singh 3/12)