After picking up an hattrick in the 3rd T20I match against Bangladesh played at VCA Stadium, Nagpur on 10th November, Deepak Chahar again repeated the same feat again during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match played at Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
The match was between Vidarbha and Rajasthan in Group B encounter. In a rain curtailed affair reduced to 13 overs a side, Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal won the toss and decided to bat first. Vidarbha captain Fazal and Akshay Kolhar got the team off to a steady start adding 24 runs in 4 overs. It was an impressive bowling effort by Rajasthan bowlers who kept it tight and did not allow Vidarbha batsmen to score runs with ease.
Chahar led from the front and took the wicket of Rusbabh Rathod off the first ball in 13th over. He then took wickets of Darshan Nalkande, Shrikant Wagh and Akshay Wadkar in three successive deliveries to pick up his 2nd hat-trick in 3 days. He finished with figures of 4 for 12 in 3 overs. Rajasthan restricted Vidarbha for a modest total of 99 for 9 in 13 overs.
Chasing the target of 100 runs to win, Manender Singh looked impressive with stroke play scoring 44 off 17 balls. Singh and Ankit Lamba added 60 runs in 4.3 overs which put Vidarbha bowlers under immense pressure. Vidarbha bowlers made a strong comeback to pick wickets at regular intervals and reduced Rajasthan to 96 for 8. Rahul Chahar and Aniket Chadhuary added 9 unbeaten runs to help Rajasthan win a thriller by 2 wickets.
Deepak Chahar produced a match winning spell for India in the 3rd T20I match taking the best figures in T20I cricket of 6 for 7 and helped Men in Blue register a 30-run win. Chahar has been a roll in recent times and would look to continue his form in upcoming matches.
