Captain Sanju Samson powers Kerala to big win over Chhattisgarh

Captain Sanju Samson gave a powerful start to help Kerala crush Chhattisgarh by 8 wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 match in Lucknow on Sunday. Kerala chased down a modest target of 121 with 56 balls to spare to bounce back from the defeat to Railways on Friday.

Opener Sanju smashed five sixes and two boundaries to make 43 off 15, but mistimed a shot and lost his wicket. The captain's aggressive batting put Kerala in a commanding position at 72/1 in just 4.2 overs. First match-centurion Rohan Kunnummal made 33 off 17, before Vishnu Vinod (22) and Salman Nizar (16) got Kerala over the line in 10.4 overs.

Earlier, Kerala bowlers did not give away a boundary in the last eight overs of the T20 match to dismiss Chhattisgarh for 120 in 19.5 overs. Pacer Asif K M bagged 3/16, while left-arm spinners Ankit Sharma and Vignesh Puthur claimed two each.

Sharma bagged both his wickets in his final over, both caught by himself. The first dismissal broke a 51-run partnership between Sanjeet Desai (35) and captain Amandeep Khare (41).

Puthur, who was making his debut, went for 17 runs in his second over, the most expensive of the first innings. But he bounced back with a wicket in each of his last two overs, leaking just eight runs in the final 12 balls.

Puthur's first wicket was Ajay Mandal, deceived by the turn that took the ball away from the left-hander, and stumped by skipper Sanju. P M Yadav gifted his wicket, bowled while trying to play a reverse sweep to a delivery that did not turn.

All six bowlers used by Sanju claimed at least a wicket. After a thumping 10-wicket win against Odisha in the opener, Kerala lost to Railways by 32 runs on Friday.

Brief scores: Chhattisgarh 120 in 19.5 overs (Amandeep Khare 41, Sanjeet Desai 35, KM Asif 3/16, Ankit Sharma 2/27, Vignesh Puthur 2/29) lost to Kerala 121/2 in 10.4 overs (Sanju Samson 43, Rohan S Kunnummal 33)