Rajat Patidar Leads Madhya Pradesh To Victory; Raina Continues Dry Run

Suresh Raina again failed to impress in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 as the left-handed batsman could just score one run.

He came out to bat at number three for his side and was trapped in front of the stumps by Ishwar Pandey on just a score of 1 on the second delivery he faced.

All the hopes were on Raina as UP had lost its first wicket on just 17 and the team had hopes on him, but skipper disappointed.

As a result of regular fall of wickets, UP could just score 108 runs in 20 overs.

Madhya Pradesh too suffered a hiccup when they lost the wicket of Naman Ojha in the very first over, but Rajat Patidar held on the fort and played an innings of 51* to see his team chasing down the total in 17 overs with seven wickets in hand.

This was UP’s second consecutive loss, and the chances of this team winning the Zonal League are over.

Still, the team would look to improve in the coming matches. Raina will again be the star attraction as, since the day he has cleared the yo-yo test, he is in contention to make a comeback due to the failure of a batsman at number 4 position.

The team needs an experienced man to sort out the number 4 issue. However, Shreyas Iyer did well in Sri Lanka series and will bat at number four in South Africa but he is inexperienced and if he doesn’t do well; team management will not shy away from trying another batsman at that position – which has been the case in past couple of years.

It can be said that due to his rough form, Raina is now not in contention to make the cut for the South Africa series but can be included for the Sri Lanka tour if he shows signs of being in form during the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Before the List A tournament, he is also expected to play the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Zonal League. In fact, he is expected to lead the team as well.

Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 110/3 (Rajat Patidar 51*, Venkatesh Iyer 27*; Praveen Kumar 1-6) defeat Uttar Pradesh (Sarfaraz Khan 20, Akshdeep Nath 18*; Ankit Sharma 2-22) by seven wickets.

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