PANAJI
Goa had a good Ranji season this year wherein the Goan side topped their Plate group by winning all their five games and thereby qualified for Ranji Elite Group for next season. So much was expected from the Goan side at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a domestic T20 format cricket tournament that featured 38 teams from across the country. But the tournament provided a reality check for Goa. When pitted against tougher opponents, the Goan side struggled.
Placed in Group E along with Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Services, Maharashtra and Nagaland, Goa could manage to win just two games out of their six games. Thus they finished at fifth position with eight points in their group just above Services and the lowly-ranked Nagaland, thereby failing to qualify for the knock-out stage.
All the matches involving Goa were played in Hyderabad, either at the Gymkhana Ground or Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
In its first match, Mumbai defeated Goa by 26 runs. Riding on a brilliant 130 not out by Shreyas Iyer, Mumbai put on a massive 250/4 in 20 overs. Chasing a big total, Goa fell just 26 runs short of the target and could manage only 224/8 in 20 overs. For Goa, Suyash Prabhudesai (52) scored a fifty.
Goa lost the next game as well, this time against Services. Batting first, Services put on a respectable total of 187/7 in 20 overs with its opener Kunwar Patak top scoring with 63. However, Goa could manage just 165/5 in 20 overs, 22 runs less than the target. Krishnamurthy Siddharth was the leading run-scorer for Goa with 55.
The third game against Andhra also ended on a losing proposition for Goa. Batting first, Goa put on 154/5 in 20 overs, thanks to Suyash Prabhudesai’s brilliant 71 not out off 51 balls. But, Andhra chased down the score in just 15.4 overs losing only two wickets. For Andhra, their skipper Ricky Bhui (72 not out) and opener Srikar Bharat (57 not out) remained not out and shared an unbeaten 98 runs partnership for the third wicket.
Goa suffered their fourth consecutive defeat by losing to Kerala. In a rain-affected match, batting first Kerala scored 143/6 in 13 overs with the help of Salman Nizar’s 34 and Sanju Samson’s 31. Due to rain, Goa’s target was reduced to 81 in 7.5 overs. But, Goa could manage to score just 69/2 in 7.5 overs, falling 11 runs short of victory.
Playing against Maharashtra in its fifth game, Goa finally registered its first victory. It was good performance by the Goan side. Batting first, Maharashtra put on a formidable 193/6 in 20 overs with the help of Ankit Bawne's 51, Arshin Kulkarni's 44 and Nikhil Naik's 40. However, Goa chased down the target in 19.3 overs losing six wickets, thanks to Suyash Prabhudesai’s classic knock of 66 off 45 balls and Vikas Singh’s 31 off 9 balls.
In its sixth and final game, Goa thrashed Nagaland by 108 runs. Bating first, Goa scored a massive 237/6 in 20 overs, courtesy Darshan Misal’s brilliant 91 off 31 balls and Suyash Prabhudesai’s 69 off 33 balls. Together, they put on 129 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. Chasing Goa’s huge score, Nagaland faltered and were bowled out for mere 129 in 20 overs. For Goa, Felix Alemao and Mohit Redkar did most of the damage in Nagaland’s innings capturing five and four wickets each respectively. For Nagaland, Chetan Bist top-scored with 63 off 42 balls.
During the tournament, Suyash Prabhudesai emerged as the highest run-getter for Goa with 270 runs which included four fifties, while Felix Alemao was the leading wicket-taker with nine wickets.
