Rishabh, Khare and Kushwah guide Chhattisgarh to 96-run win

Chhattisgarh followed up their crushing 10-wicket win over Odisha with yet another dominating performance as they beat Arunachal Pradesh by 96 runs in round 2 match of their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Friday.

A solid 81 from opener Rishabh Tiwari and a whirlwind 61* off 23 from Amandeep Khare powered Chhattisgarh to 215/3 at the DRIEMS Ground, Cuttack after being sent it.

On a pitch where Chhattisgarh were unforgiving, Arunachal batsmen struggled to get going against the likes of Vishal Kushwah who finished with 4/16 from his four overs. They managed 118/8 for their second straight defeat of the T20 tournament in as many days.

Openers Shashank Chandrekar and Rishabh led a positive start before Prateek Kataria struck in the fifth over. Chandrekar had struck two fours to move to 15 but holed out to Techi Neri.

That gave way to a 72-run partnership between Rishabh and captain Harpreet Singh. They had taken the score to 108/1 in 12.3 overs when Techi Doria struck with the wicket of Harpreet who scored 34 off 25 with the help of four fours and a six.

With the death overs approaching, Chhattisgarh batsmen upped the ante. Khare joined Rishabh and the duo shared a partnership of 47 runs in just 18 deliveries.

Rishabh departed after hitting seven fours and four sixes, falling to Kshitiz Sharma in the 16th over. His dismissal only made things worse for Arunachal bowlers as they had to deal with Khare who was in punishing mood.

He belted six fours and four fours to shred their attacks into pieces. Barring Kshitiz Sharma, every bowler went for plenty with Licha Tehi proving the most expensive, delivering four wicketless overs for 53 runs.

Arunachal's chase never got going as they kept losing wickets regularly. Opener Samarth Seth was their top-scorer with 34 off 40 while Kshitiz contributed with 23 off 25.

While Kushwah was the pick of the bowlers, Pankaj Kumar Rao chipped in with a couple of wickets.

Brief Scores: Chhattisgarh (Rishabh Tiwari 81, Amandeep Khare 61*) beat Arunachal Pradesh 118/8 (Samarth Seth 34; Vishal Kushwah 4/16) by 96 runs