Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, Group E: 3 top batting performances on Friday

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 got underway on Thursday and today, the Elite Group E saw Delhi take on Chandigarh, Hyderabad face off against Uttarakhand and Saurashtra go up against Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi, who beat Uttarakhand in their opening match, put on another good performance to come out on top against Chandigarh. Hyderabad also registered their second win of the season, as Uttarakhand suffered their second straight defeat.

Saurashtra, who lost to Hyderabad in a close encounter in their first match, opened their account in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beating Uttar Pradesh in a thriller.

After Chandigarh scored 144/8, Delhi rode on captain Nitish Rana's quickfire fifty to chase down the target with ease. Meanwhile, skipper Tanmay Agarwal's brilliant unbeaten 97 powered Hyderabad to 167/5 and they bowled out Uttarakhand for 106 to notch a big win.

Saurashtra successfully defended their total of 147/7 with just two runs to spare to bring up their first win of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy series.

Hyderabad lead the Group E table with eight points while Delhi are in second place due to a lower Net Run Rate (NRR). Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra both have four points each while Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh are yet to open their account in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Here are the top three batting displays from Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group E today.

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#3 Tanmay Agarwal 97*(59)

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Tanmay Agarwal led from the front and was unlucky to miss out on a century.

Tanmay Agarwal played a sensational unbeaten knock of 97 against Uttarakhand as Hyderabad won by 61 runs. The southpaw batted through the whole 20 overs to help power Hyderabad to a good total against Uttarakhand.

Despite not finding any support from the other end, the Hyderabad skipper dropped anchor and kept the scoreboard ticking. He finally got some help from No. 7 Rahul Buddhi, who hit an unbeaten 24 off 13. However, it was a one-man show from Agarwal for Hyderabad. Tanmay Agarwal hit seven boundaries and six sixes in his 59-ball knock.

Uttarakhand were then bowled out for 106.

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#2 Nitish Rana

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Nitish Rana blitzed an unbeaten 50 off 25 deliveries against Chandigarh.

Chasing 145, Delhi got off to a shaky start, losing opener Priyansh Arya in the fourth over. His partner Anuj Rawat and No. 3 Himmat Singh took Delhi to 61 in the 10th over before the latter fell.

Nitish Rana then came on and went on a six-hitting frenzy to help Delhi complete the chase in 17.2 overs. While Rawat fell for 44, Rana stayed till the end and managed to reach his half-century off 25 deliveries. He hit six sixes and one boundary in his devastating knock.

Lalit Yadav, who came in after Rawat's departure, also went on the attack, smashing 23 off 13 balls.

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#1 Rinku Singh 63*(41)

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Rinku Singh hit his second consecutive half-century.

Rinku Singh has gotten off to a brilliant start in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. Having hit a quickfire 57* in their last match, Singh played another great knock against Saurashtra, albeit in a losing cause on Friday.

Chasing the 148-run target set by Saurashtra, Rinku Singh almost single-handedly took UP over the line with his unbeaten 63 off 41 deliveries. However, it was not enough and they fell short by just two runs.

That the next highest score from his team was 20 showed how much of a one-man performance it was from Rinku Singh, who hit four sixes and three boundaries.