Urvil Patel smashes 31-ball ton; Rahane, Suryakumar star in Mumbai win
Urvil Patel smashes 31-ball ton for Gujarat
Urvil Patel marked his T20 captaincy debut with a remarkable 119 not out off just 37 balls as Gujarat opened their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign with an eight-wicket win over Services in a Group C fixture in Hyderabad.Retained by Chennai Super Kings after being signed midway through IPL 2025 as an injury replacement, Urvil reached his hundred off just 31 balls, the third fastest by an Indian. His fireworks at the top of the order turned a chase of 183 into a cakewalk. Urvil hit 12 fours and 10 sixes as Gujarat won with 45 balls to spare.
Urvil also holds the record for the joint-fastest T20 hundred by an Indian with Abhishek Sharma. Both hit 28-ball hundreds, against Tripura and Meghalaya, respectively, in the 2024-25 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In 2023, Urvil had struck the third-fastest century by an Indian in List A cricket when he hit a 41-ball century against Arunachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Urvil’s to-be CSK colleague and Kerala captain Sanju Samson struck an unbeaten 51 as Kerala romped to a 10-wicket win over Odisha. Samson’s knock was overshadowed by Rohan Kunnummal, who struck an unbeaten 60-ball 121 – his second T20 century.
Bhuvneshwar stars in UP win
In his first competitive fixture since winning the IPL 2025 final with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed he hadn’t lost his swing or zip, picking up 2 for 23 in Uttar Pradesh‘s six-wicket win in a Group B fixture against Goa in Kolkata.Put in to bat, Goa posted 172 for 9 on the back of Abhinav Tejrana, who top-scored with a 35-ball 72 on T20 debut. UP’s chase was then powered by Aryan Juyal, the wicketkeeper, who finished unbeaten on 93 off 57 balls, to seal UP’s chase with 10 balls to spare.File photo – R Smaran set up Karnataka’s win with a half-century•R Smaran/KSCA
Dubey’s last-over six steers Karnataka home
Legspin-bowling allrounder Praveen Dubey proved his all-round chops to haul Karnataka to a thrilling win over Uttarakhand in a Group D fixture in Ahmedabad.Needing 7 off 2, Dubey launched a six before hit the winning runs as Karnataka chased down 198 off the last ball. Dubey, who was released by Punjab Kings, finished 38 not out off 24 balls, the unbroken sixth-wicket stand with Shubhang Hedge worth 70 off just 40 balls.Karnataka’s chase was set up by R Smaran, who top-scored with a 41-ball 67 to show Sunrisers Hyderabad what they could expect come IPL 2026.File photo – Shardul Thakur led Mumbai’s attack•Associated Press
Rahane, SKY power Mumbai home; Shaw misses out
Ajinkya Rahane smashed a 31-ball half-century, while Suryakumar Yadav chipped in with an enterprising 47 off 30, as Mumbai eased past Railways‘ 158 for 5 by seven wickets and its 25 balls to spare in a Group A fixture in Lucknow. Rahane top-scored with 62 off 33, falling hit wicket to legspinner Karn Sharma. Mumbai’s bowlers shared the wickets, with captain Shardul Thakur leading the way with a tidy 1 for 15 from four overs. Shivam Dube also struck once in his three-over spell.It wasn’t such a happy outing for Prithvi Shaw on T20 debut for Maharashtra as they lost to Jammu & Kashmir by five wickets in a Group B fixture in Kolkata. Shaw, looking to attract the interest of IPL franchises after going unsold in 2025, made just 5 before he was one of three victims of seamer Auqib Nabi. Umran Malik too impressed with 2 for 24.Abhishek Sharma managed just 4, but Punjab beat Himachal, while Jaydev Unadkat’s three-for helped Saurashtra grab full points against Tripura in Ahmedabad.