Mayank Rawat spins Delhi to facile win against Haryana in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s

Delhi defeated Haryana by six wickets in the National T20s for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Wednesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to put themselves in strong position to reach the next stage.

Delhi have won all their three matches so far and need to win two out of the next four games to stay in contention for the next stage.

Haryana batted on winning the toss, and were going well at 62 without loss in eight overs. But then Suyash Sharma, who was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the recent IPL Auction in Jeddah, picked the wicket of captain Ankit Kumar to break the opening partnership.

Mayank Rawat then sprung into action. The all-rounder, who bowls off-spin and is a power-hitter, took three wickets to run through the top and middle-order of Haryana with help from Prince Yadav and Harsh Tyagi.

Rawat removed Himanshu Rana, Rahul Tewatia and Nishant Sindhu.  

“The Haryana batting collapsed after the fine start. Tewatia tried to play against the spin towards mid-on missed and was bowled. Rana was caught at long-on while my delivery jumped on Sindhu and he was caught at point,” said Rawat after the match to www.thedelhijunction.com.

Haryana folded for 117 in 17.2 overs. The target was too little. Opening batsman Priyansh Arya, who earned a Rs 3.4 crore contract with Chennai Super Kings at the IPL Auction, scored 48 off 33 balls to lead the charge. Himmat Singh finished off the game with a 15-ball unbeaten 23.   

This is 24-year-old Rawat’s breakthrough year and the opportunity has come largely thanks to his performance in the Delhi Premier League (DPL). He is one of the finer talents in white ball cricket in Delhi but has struggled to get a look-in over the past few seasons even as Delhi struggled.

Rawat represents NK Khanna Cricket Club at the DDCA League level and began playing cricket 14 years ago and is a product of Bal Bhawan Cricket Academy.

He first represented Delhi at the under-14 level. However, he couldn’t play under-16 for Delhi. He got through Delhi under-19 team and represented India at the under-19 level in the first season of the Colts level itself.

He was part of the Delhi white-ball squad in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons but failed to get a single match. This year, thanks to his performance in DPL where he made 289 runs at 72.25 and took 11 wickets at 16.64, he was considered for not just the white ball team but also for the Ranji Trophy squad.

While he failed with both bat (0 in both outings) and ball (0/194) in the only Ranji Trophy game he played this season, against Tamil Nadu, he has started to get into his groove in the T20s. He had made a 29 not out in the last match against J&K, adding unbeaten 73 for the fifth wicket with Himmat Singh that pushed Delhi to a winning total.

Delhi next play Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.

They need to win two of their next four matches to qualify further.

Tags : Mayank Rawat, Delhi cricket, Syed Mushtaq Ali T20, Himmat Singh, DDCA, Haryana, IPL Auction, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore