Nitish Reddy picks hattrick but Andhra lose

Nitish Reddy picked a hattrick in his first game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, but it came in a lost cause as Madhya Pradesh prevailed in a low-scoring thriller against Andhra in Pune.

Before Nitish's exploits, MP bowlers ran riot with off-spinner Shivam Shukla (4-23) and medium pacers Tripuresh Singh (3-31) and Rahul Batham (2-9) running through the Andhra batting lineup. Nitish's 27-ball 25 was the best effort from an Andhra batter as they folded for just 112.

In response, Nitish's hattrick had MP down to 14/3. Venkatesh Iyer fell right after the PowerPlay, giving Andhra hopes of a heist. Batham and Rishabh Chauhan then came together for a 73-run stand that put the game beyond Andhra. Though they picked a couple more wickets, it wasn't enough as MP wrapped up the chase in the 18th over.

After Anshul Kamboj (2-24) and Ishant Bharadwaj (2-24) played a pivotal role in restricting Rajasthan to 132/8, Haryana captain Ankit Kumar slammed a 41-ball 60 to put his team on the winning course. Haryana completed the chase with seven wickets and 3.4 overs to spare.

Rajasthan suffered early blows while batting first, losing four wickets in the PowerPlay. Opener Shubham Garhwal (33) fell in the 11th over, leaving his team vulnerable. Mahipal Lomror (37*), Manav Suthar (15) and Rahul Chahar (20) ensured a competitive total, but their efforts were not enough. Ankit forged three key stands worth 37, 52 and 40 with Haryana's other top-order batters to secure the win.