Rohtak, Nov 5 (Cricket news) Nitish Rana smashed half a dozen sixes in his unbeaten 25-ball-50 to lead Delhi to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Chandigarh in a Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 group E encounter, here on Friday.

Chasing a target of 145, Delhi knocked off the runs in just 17.2 overs as Rana with six sixes and a boundary.

All-rounder Lalit Yadav's (23 not out off 13 balls) five fours made it difficult for unheralded Chandigarh bowling attack.

Rana, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL, and Yadav added 65 runs in just 5.1 overs to also bolster their net run-rate. They are now on top of the group E table with eight points.

The other contributor with the bat for Delhi was left-handed keeper-batter Anuj Rawat, who hit three sixes and three fours in his 35-ball-44.

However credit should also go to the Delhi pacers — Pradeep Sangwan (2/22), Simarjeet Singh (2/24) and Navdeep Saini (1/22), who took control of the back-10 as Chandigarh from 79 for no loss finished at 144 for 8 because of the trio.

Former India U-19 and IPL fringe player Manan Vohra (42 off 41 balls) and his opening partner, ex-MI player, Sarul Kanwar (50 off 36 balls) gave a good start but once they perished, there was no fight from other batters.

In other matches of the group, Saurashtra beat UP by two runs while Hyderabad crashed Uttarakhand by 61 runs.

Brief Scores: Chandigarh: 144/8 (Sarul Kanwar 50 off 36 balls, Pradeep Sangwan 2/22, Simarjeet Singh 2/24) lost to Delhi 145/3 (Anuj Rawat 44 off 35 balls, Nitish Rana 50 no off 25 balls) by 7 wickets.

Saurashtra: 147/7 (Prerak Mankad 34 off 30 balls, Samarth Vyas 29 off 28 balls, Shivam Mavi 2/32) beat Uttar Pradesh 145/8 (Rinku Singh 63 off 41 balls, Dharmandra Jadeja 2/24, Jaydev Unadkat 2/35) by 2 runs.

Hyderabad: 167/5 (Tanmay Agarwal 97 no off 59 balls, Swapnil Singh 2/30) beat Uttarakhand 106 in 18.2 overs (Chama Milind 5/16) by 61 runs.

Also Read : Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Ruturaj Gaikwad's 80 gives Maharashtra 1st win in Group A

News Source : PTI