DY Patil T20 Cup 2024: Hardik Pandya Picks 2 Wickets on His Return, Leads Reliance 1 to Victory

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya made a triumphant return to the field, leading Reliance 1 to a thrilling win in the 18th edition of the DY Patil T20 Cup 2024 at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday. Playing his first competitive game since the ODI World Cup 2023, Pandya bowled a match-winning spell and made a notable contribution with the bat as well to help his team defeat BPCL by 2 wickets.

After opting to bowl first, Pandya & Co bundled out BPL for 126 in 18.3. The skipper returned 2 for 22 while his teammates, Dev Lakra (3-31) and former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (3-15) were also among the wickets. For BPCL, Anukul Roy top-scored with an unbeaten 30.

In reply, Reliance 1 had a terrific start with Naman Dhir and Nehal Wadhera stitching a 51-run opening stand while the latter scored a half-century.

There was a middle-order collapse as Reliance slipped from 87 for one to 113 for eight. However, skipper Pandya held himself back and walked out at No. 10 and joined hands with Chawla to lead Reliance to a hard-fought two-wicket win.

In another game at the University Ground, Income Tax defeated Bank of Baroda by 40 runs. Wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat smashed a hundred, powering Income Tax to a mammoth total of 238/4 in 20 overs. For Bank of Baroda, their skipper Krishnappa Gowtham (2-47) was the pick of the bowlers.

Chasing 239, Bank of Baroda never got going and ultimately, fell 40 runs short of the target. For Income Tax, Ishan Porel (2-22) and Lalit Yadav (2-45) picked 2 wickets each.

Brief Scores:

At DY Patil Stadium 

Group A: BPCL 126 in 18.3 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 24, Anukul Roy 30*; Dev Lakra 3-31, Piyush Chawla 3-15, Hardik Pandya 2-22) lost to Reliance 1 128-8 in 15 overs (Nehal Wadhera 50, Naman Dhir 20, Piyush Chawla 16 n.o.; Aakash Mishra 5-17, Shreyas Gopal 2-37)-by two wickets

At University Ground

Group C: Income Tax 238-4 in 20 overs (Anuj Rawat 116*., Pramod Chandila 35, Abhishek Das 31, Mahipal Lomror 27; Krishnappa Gowtham 2-47) bt Bank of Baroda 198-8 in 20 overs (Rohan Kadam 45, Akash Anand 45*; Lalit Yadav 2-45, Ishan Porel 2-22)- by 40 runs

Tuesday’s fixtures

11 am: At University Ground: Group A: Central Railway v Jain Irrigation; At DY Patil Stadium: Group D: Nirlon SC v Mumbai Customs

4 pm: At University Ground: Group B: RBI v Route Mobile; At DY Patil Stadium: Canada v Indian Oil