Kerala defeated Himachal Pradesh by 35 runs in their opening match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy national T20 championship in Mumbai on Monday.
Shreyas Gopal bagged four wickets on his Kerala debut while Vinod Kumar C V also took four wickets as Himachal were bowled out for 128. Nikhil Gangta top-scored with 42 runs for Himachal.
Earlier, Vishnu Vinod scored a 27-ball 44 as Kerala posted 163/8. Sachin Baby made an unbeaten 30 while skipper Sanju Samson was dismissed for one.
Brief scores: Kerala 163/8 in 20 overs (Vishnu Vinod 44, Sachin Baby 30 not out; M J Dagar 3/33, Mukul Negi 2/27) bt Himachal 128 in 19.1 overs (Nikhil Gangta 42; Shreyas Gopal 4/17, Vinod Kumar 4/22).
Points: Kerala 4; Himachal 0.