Saurashtra opener Harvik Desai was on fire Tuesday during the Syed Mushtaq Ali match between Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra at Indore. During the first innings of the match, Desai smashed 3 fours and 2 sixes off five successive balls and created a record.
Desai came out to open the batting alongside Tarang Gohel. Gohel was dismissed cheaply in the second over but that didn’t stop Desai from taking on the bowlers. The wicketkeeper-batter was at his belligerent best as he ripped apart the experienced left-arm spinner Sai Kishore.
The first ball was a short one and Desai obliged by pulling it away over midwicket for a big six. The next ball was quick but was again a short one, and Desai put that away for a four through midwicket. Seeing the short balls being put away, Kishore bowled a full ball but it was again put away over long on for another six.
Harvik was lucky on the next ball as he got an outside edge past the wicketkeeper for a four. The last ball of the over was thrashed through extra cover for another four as Desai collected 24 runs from the over.
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Watch: Harvik Desai destroys Sai Kishore with brutal power-hitting
6️⃣,4️⃣,6️⃣,4️⃣,4️⃣ 🔥
Harvik Desai takes the attack to Sai Kishore, gets Saurashtra off to a blistering start 👌👌#SMAT | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/GQ2CDU9QKj pic.twitter.com/ersgl3h2rd
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 3, 2024
Interestingly, the first ball of the over was a dot ball. However, the last five balls yielded 24 runs. It was also Sai Kishore’s opening over of the match. This over took Saurashtra’s score to 54-1 in just 4 overs.
Desai provided a great start to Saurashtra and went on to score a blistering 55 off just 34 balls. His knock included 5 fours and 4 sixes. The wicketkeeper-batter was eventually dismissed by Sai Kishore, who pulled off a magnificent caught and bowled.
Watch: Sai Kishore takes a brilliant catch to dismiss Harvik Desai
Fantastic Catch 👌👌
Sai Kishore pulls off a brilliant caught and bowled to dismiss the set Harvik Desai 🙌#SMAT | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard 📷 https://t.co/GQ2CDUaozR pic.twitter.com/u6ZR6uCPy5
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 3, 2024
Sai Kishore made a superb comeback after being taken for 24 runs in his first over. The experienced left-arm spinner gave away just 20 runs in his next three overs and even picked up the big wicket of Harvik Desai.
Saurashtra thrash Tamil Nadu
Meanwhile, Saurashtra scored a mammoth 235-5 after batting first on a flat batting surface at Indore on the back of half-centuries from Harvik, Ruchit Ahir, and Sammar Gajjar. Prerak Mankad also scored a useful 43 off 26 balls.
In reply, Tamil Nadu could only muster 177-9 in 20 overs. Boopathi Kumar scored 65 off 44 balls but lacked support from the other end. Chirag Jani picked up 3 wickets for Saurashtra while Ankur Panwar and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picked up 2 wickets each.