Two low totals were witnessed in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy on Thursday as the new entrants were taken over by the established states. Sikkim was bundled out for 49 runs against Gujarat in the Group E match played in the morning. A few hours later, in the Group B game against Tamil Nadu, Manipur was reduced to just 55. That none of the batsmen got to double figures was an interesting fact in the innings of Manipur.
The No.8 batsman Kabrambam Meitei top-scored with nine runs for his team. Thus Manipur recorded only the 6th instance the Twenty20 format where all 11 players batted in an innings with none of them reaching double digits. The first such instance was recorded in a Syed Mushtaq Ali game by Tripura against Jharkhand in 2009.
Sikkim and Manipur’s total of 49 and 55, respectively, are among the top five lowest totals in the T20 cricket. Tripura scored the lowest of 30 against Jharkhand in 2009/10, while Assam scored 44 against Delhi in 2015/16. Sikkim tied with the famous 49/10 by the Bangalore Royal Challengers in 2017 IPL. Sikkim and Manipur did not score much but lasted 19.3 and 18.4 overs, respectively. Their run rate of 2.51 and 2.94 is the 3rd and 6th in a completed T20 innings list of the lowest run-rates.
For Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, the targets of 50 and 56 were too small as they pursued them with more than 15 overs to spare. Gujarat had a 47-run opening stand in 4 overs chasing 49 as Urvil Patel scored a 12-ball 26, In terms of balls to spare, Gujarat win with 94 balls to spare was at No.5 in the biggest T20I wins. However, while chasing a target of 50 and more runs, their chase in 4.2 overs was the fastest.
However, Gujarat held the record for just 3 overs as Tamil Nadu finished their 56-run chase in 4.1 overs; one ball less than Gujarat needed against Sikkim. After a 50-run opening stand in just 3.5 overs, Murali Vijay was run out for 14-ball 33. Washington Sundar scored 15* out of 10 as Tamil Nadu finished off the game by reaching 58 in 4.1 overs. Austria records the fastest T20I chase during a T20I against Turkey where they chased down the target of 33 runs only in 2.4 overs.
