Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Uthappa, Vishnu Vinod power Kerala past Delhi

Tale of woes
Robin Uthappa. File photo

Mumbai: Robin Uthappa (91) and Vishnu Vinod (71 not out) combined to power Kerala to a six-wicket win over Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 Championship here on Friday.

It was Kerala's third win on the trot in Elite Group E, while Delhi suffered their first loss in three games.

Chasing a stiff target of 213, Kerala were struggling at 71/3 in the eighth over when opener Uthappa was joined in the middle by Vishnu. The two turned the game on its head with a 133-run stand off 62 balls for the fourth wicket.

Uthappa's 54-ball 91 contained three fours and eight sixes, while Vishnu hit three fours and five sixes in his 38-ball knock as Kerala romped home with one over to spare.

It was the highest successful chase in the history of the competition bettering the 211 by Delhi against Railways in 2015-16 and Chhattisgarh against Haryana in 2019-20. However, Pondicherry broke the record late in the day as they chased down 226 against Andhra by four wickets.

Azharuddeen fails

Mohammed Azharuddeen, who smashed an unbeaten 137 in Kerala's win over Mumbai, was sent back for a duck by Ishant Sharma in the opening over. Sanju Samson made 16, while Sachin Baby departed for 22.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan smashed 77 off 48 balls after Dehi was put in to bat. Lalit Yadav's unbeaten 52 off 25 balls was instrumental in Delhi ending with 212/4.

S Sreesanth (2/46) was the most successful bowler, while K M Asif picked up 1/39.

Kerala, who are leading the table with 12 points ahead of Haryana on net run rate, next meet Andhra on Sunday.

Brief scores: Delhi 212/4 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 77, Lalit Yadav 52 not out; S Sreesanth 2/46) lost to Kerala 218/4 in 19 overs (Robin Uthappa 95, Vishnu Vinod 71 not out).

Points: Kerala 4; Delhi 0.

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