Sanju Samson-led Kerala suffered a disappointing defeat as a batting collapse led them to a damaging defeat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Friday (November 28). Railways defeated Kerala by 32 runs, despite a decent bowling display from Kerala.
Winning the toss, Kerala chose to field first, allowing Railways to post a competitive total of 149 runs for 7 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
Railways got a solid start from openers Shivam Chaudhary, who scored 24 runs, and Akshat Pandey, who added 10 runs before both were dismissed by Sharafuddeen. Middle-order batsmen Navneet Virk and Ravi Singh contributed significantly with scores of 32 and 25 respectively, helping Railways reach a challenging total. Bowling for Kerala, K M Asif was the standout
performer, taking three wickets, alongside Akhil Scaria and Sharafuddeen, who took two wickets each.
Kerala's reply failed to gather momentum, with their batting collapsing under pressure. Captain Sanju Samson was the top scorer with 19 runs, while Salman Nizar (18), Akhil Scaria (16), and Ahmad Imran (12) also contributed but could not prevent the team from falling short at 117 for 8 wickets. Railways bowlers Atal Bihari Rai and Shivam Chaudhary impressed with three and two wickets respectively.
With the defeat, Kerala will be aiming to return to winning ways in their next group stage match. Railways, on the other hand, managed their first victory of the group stages after losing the last encounter.
