Opening the innings with intent, Abhijeet Tomar and Rohan Rajbhar set the tone for a moderate chase with a commanding 114-run partnership as Rajasthan began their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign with a six-wicket win against Uttar Pradesh in a Group ‘A’ fixture in Mumbai on Saturday. Returning to competitive action after nearly a year on the sidelines due to injury, Tomar top-scored with 63 off 34 balls during this stand, while Rajbhar contributed 48 off 31 deliveries.
Rohan Rajbhar
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh won the toss and elected to bat, but their top order failed to get going. Within the first three overs, they were reduced to 24/2, and by the 11th over, they had slipped to 69/4. Their innings gained much-needed momentum when Sameer Rizvi arrived at the crease and played an attacking knock of 74 not out off 35 balls, helping UP post 171/6 in 20 overs. Siddharth Yadav offered support with 37 off 34 deliveries.Meanwhile, Rajasthan captain Deepak Chahar endured a difficult outing as the pace spearhead, leaking runs at an expensive economy rate of 12.33 to finish with figures of 3-0-37-1.Operating with his off-spin, opening batter Rajbhar also delivered a disciplined bowling spell, keeping a tight lid on the scoring to record economical figures of 4-0-20-0. Manav Suthar and Rahul Chahar chipped in with two wickets apiece.Chasing 172, Rajasthan crossed the line comfortably at 172/4 in 15.4 overs. Mahipal Lomror added a quickfire 33 off 16 balls to finish the chase. Prashant Veer and Zeeshan Ansari picked up two wickets each for UP.Brief score: Uttar Pradesh: 171/6 in 20 overs (Sameer Rizvi 74 not out, Siddarth Yadav 37; Manav Suthar 2/30, Rahul Chahar 2/37) lost to Rajasthan: 172/4 in 15.4 overs (Abhijeet Tomar 63, Rohan Rajbar 48, Mahipal Lomror 33; Zeeshan Ansari 2/37) by six wickets.
