Umesh back and how

Yadav,playing his first game since returning from injury,picked up five wickets for 18 runs in a 2.3 over spell to help Vidarbha bowl out Orissa for just 107 and register a massive 73-run win.

Unmukt had made 105 off 67 versus Kerala on Tuesday but Delhi ended up on the losing side. Against Gujarat,Unmukt added 110 runs in just 66 balls for the third-wicket partnership with Milind Kumar (23) on Wednesday.

Yadav pierced open Orissa’s middle-order by picking up three wickets in two overs,including two in consecutive balls. Ravi Jangid top-scored for Vidarbha with 63 off 33 balls. For Orissa,all-rounder Ankit Yadav remained unbeaten on 54 but there was little support from the rest of the batsman.

Yadav last played for India in the Motera Test versus England,the first of the four-match series which India lost 1-2. Yadav is set to play for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL and has said that though he will manage his workload better he would not compromise on pace.

For Delhi,medium-pacer Sumit Narwal was the pick of the bowlers with three for 15 while left-arm spinner Manan Sharma also chipped in with two wickets for 16 runs.

At the end of the day’s play,Chand said that he was reaping the rewards of staying true to his natural game. “I was just playing the way I do and playing the ball according to the merit. I don’t want to complicate things by thinking too much,” Chand said.

Brief scores: Delhi 198 for 4 in 20 ovs (U Chand 125; A Patel 1/25) bt Gujarat 86 all out in 17.3 ovs (K Jesal 24; S Narwal 3/15); Vidarbha 180 for 8 in 20 ovs (R Jangid 63,A Wankhede 26; B Mohanty 3/30) vs Orissa 107 all out in 14.3 ovs (A Yadav 54 n.o; U Yadav 5/18)

Openers shine for Punjab

Punjab beat Baroda by nine wickets riding on a solid opening partnership of 118 between Ravinder Singh and Mandeep Singh in chase of a modest target of 133. Ravinder hit 69 off 51 balls,while Mandeep remained unbeaten of 46 off 33. Electing to bat,Baroda,without the Pathan brothers,struggled to dominate the Punjab pacers who struck regularly. Baroda opener Aditya Waghmode hit 30 off 14 and Krunal Pandya hit 23 off 28 but the total proved to be too little. Punjab leg-spinner Rahul Sharma picked up two wickets while medium-pacer Amitoze Singh took three wickets.

Brief scores: 126 all out in 18.5 ovs (A Waghmode 30,K Pandya 23; A Singh 3/15,S Kaul 2/15,R Sharma 2/24) lost to Punjab 132 for 1 in 14.4 ovs (R Singh 69,M Singh 46)

Bengal top-order fires

Bengal’s top-order fired in tandem to post 176 for 2 with wicket-keeper Wridhimann Saha top-scroing with 64 versus Uttar Pradesh. Sreevats Goswami made 30 and added 62 for the first wicket with Subhomoy Das as Bengal posted 176 for 2. Medium-pacer Praveen Kumar utilised his batting skills,rarely seen on show since he made a mark as an all-rounder in the early stages of his career,with an unbeaten 49 but Uttar Pradesh fell short by 14 runs.

Brief scores: 176 for 2 in 20 ovs (S Goswami 30,W Saha 64; I Ahmad 1/28) bt Uttar Pradesh 162 for 9 in 20 ovs (E Dwivedi 34,P Kumar 49; S Mandal 2/33,S Sanyal 2/19)