Venkatesh Iyer, Bought For Rs 23.75 Crore By KKR, Shines For MP In SMAT

After attracting a Rs 23.75 crore bid from Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL mega auction, Venkatesh Iyer made a small right step while producing an all-round effort to propel Madhya Pradesh to a 101-run win over Meghalaya in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group A match on Monday. Venkatesh got the third highest bid in the auction being held at Jeddah after Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 crore). Venkatesh first made a 17-ball 37 (4x6) which along with Rajat Patidar's 78 (36b, 6x4, 6x6) guided MP to 222 for five in 20 overs.

Venkatesh, then took a wicket (2-0-9-1) to support Mohammed Arshad Khan (2.4-0-5-3) as Madhya Pradesh bundled out Meghalaya for 121 with two balls to spare.

Harshal, Chahal sparkle

A blistering hundred by Nishant Sindhu (100, 48b, 11x4, 4x6) and a brisk 91 (45b, 11x4, 4x6) by Himanshu Rana powered Haryana to 255 for two against Arunachal Pradesh in a Group C match at Mumbai.

The Arunachal batters could not tackle the guiles of pacer Harshal Patel (4-0-12-5) and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (4-0-15-2) to get bowled out for 80 as Haryana celebrated a huge 175-run win.

Chahal was a Rs 18 crore buy by the Punjab Kings while Harshal went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8 crore.

Pandya brothers shore up Baroda

Hardik Pandya (41 not out, 21b, 2x4, 3x6) and skipper Krunal Pandya (45, 35b, 3x4, 1x6), who joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 5.75 crore, played key roles as Baroda chased down a 166-run target set by Uttarakhand to notch their second successive win in Group B.

Earlier, Hardik chipped in with a wicket as well to help Baroda restrict Uttarakhand to a manageable 165 for seven.

Brief scores: At Rajkot: Group A: Madhya Pradesh: 222/5 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 78, Venkatesh Iyer 37) beat Meghalaya: 121 all out in 19.4 overs (Arshad Khan 3/5, Venkatesh Iyer 1/9) by 101 runs.

At Mumbai: Group C: Haryana: 255/2 in 20 overs (Himanshu Rana 91, Nishant Sindhu 100 not out) beat Arunachal Pradesh: 80 all out in 17 overs (Harshal Patel 5/12, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/15) by 175 runs.

At Indore: Group B: Uttarakhand: 165/7 in 20 overs (R Samarth 42, Avneesh Sudha 38; Hardik Pandya 1/25, Lukeman Meriwalla 2/37) lost to Baroda: 168/5 in 18.4 overs (Hardik Pandya 41 not out, Krunal Pandya 45; Agrim Tiwari 2/28) by 5 wickets. PTI UNG 7/21/2024 KHS

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