Surviving awobble

Gujarat stutter in chase but stay in contention for the knockout berth

Atthe end of it, there is no denying, Gujarat are in a strong position to qualify for the knockouts with their third win in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after a six-wicket win over Odisha on Friday. But by the end of it, there is also no denying that Gujarat’s wobbly batting at the CB Patel ground yesterday left a lot desiring.

Asked to bowl first, it was the Gujarat bowlers, with all the frontline bowlers in the side for the first time in the tournament, that responded to the challenge by bowling their rivals out for 101in 18.4 overs.

Veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla weaved his magic with figures of 4-9-3 while medium-pacer Roosh Kalaria finished with 3.4-15-3. For Odisha, Subhranshu Senapati (22-ball 32) and seasoned Biplab Samantray (28-ball 31) offered brief resistance with a 47-run stand for the third wicket.

The target was never going to be tough but an off-colour Gujarat batting made it a task while losing four wickets in the process. It was left to the 63-run third-wicket stand between home boy Bhargav Merai (47-ball 48*) and Priyank Panchal (25-ball 37) that helped a stuttering Gujarat reached the target with 19 balls remaining.

While Gujarat are comfortably placed in the second place, with an impressive run rate courtesy their thumping wins over minnows Nagaland and Sikkim, coach Sairaj Bahutule will have his task cut out before they take on table topper Jharkhand on Sunday.