Kishan displayed an impressive six-hitting performance, smashing 10 sixes during a stunning 49-ball 101, as Jharkhand set a formidable target of 262 for 3.
Jharkhand’s bowlers, spearheaded by medium pacer Anukul Roy, struck early with two wickets in his opening over, while the team consistently took wickets to dismiss Haryana for 193, despite a valiant half-century from wicketkeeper-batter Yashvardhan Dalal (53).
Roy also contributed with the bat, scoring a quick-fire 40 off 20 balls.
Thus, Jharkhand became the 12th state to claim victory in the nation’s premier T20 domestic tournament.
Choosing to bat first, the Jharkhand captain formed a crucial 177-run partnership for the second wicket with Kumar Kushagra, who played an excellent supporting role with a brisk 81 off 38 balls, maintaining pressure on the Haryana bowlers.
This century marked Kishan’s second in the tournament. The 27-year-old has dazzled throughout the competition, leading the run charts with 517 runs from 10 innings at an extraordinary strike rate of 197.32.
The left-hander’s impressive form comes at a crucial time, as national selectors are set to meet soon to finalize India’s T20I squad for the forthcoming series against New Zealand and the T20 World Cup.
Kishan showed no mercy to the Haryana bowlers, adding eight fours to his tally, and reached his hundred with a stylish one-handed six over extra cover.
He was eventually bowled by Sumit Kumar in the 15th over, shortly after Kushagra was dismissed in the following over.
Late contributions from Anukul and Robin Minz (31 off 14) ensured Jharkhand concluded with a score that was well beyond Haryana’s reach.
Haryana’s batters needed to play aggressively to chase down the challenging target, but their efforts began on a sour note as they quickly lost skipper Ankit Kumar (0) and Ashish Siwach (0), falling to 2/1.
Wicketkeeper-batter Dalal tried to stabilize the innings, first adding 34 runs with opener Arsh Ranga (17) and then building a 67-run partnership with Nishant Sindhu (31).
However, Anukul shifted the momentum decisively in Jharkhand’s favor by taking out both set batters in one over, derailing Haryana’s chase.
Brief Score: Jharkhand 262/3 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 101, Kumar Kushagra 89; Sumit Kumar 1/41) Haryana 193 all out in 18.3 overs (Yashvardhan Dalal 53, Samant Jakhar 38; Sushant Mishra 3/21)
