Sanju-less Kerala return to winning ways in Syed Mushtaq T20

Kerala returned to winning ways in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 event with an 8-wicket win over Nagaland in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Rohan S Kunnummal scored a 28-ball 57 and Sachin Baby remained unbeaten on 48 off 31 as Kerala won in 11.2 overs. Earlier, pacers Basil N P and Basil Thampi bagged five wickets between them as Kerala restricted Nagaland for 120/8.

Vishnu Vinod, who was the costliest buy (picked by Punjab Kings for Rs 95 lakh) among Kerala players in the recently held IPL Mega Auction in Jeddah, was dismissed for two. Sachin was bought for Rs 30 lakh by Sunrisers Hyderabad while Rohan's name did not come up for bidding.

Kerala had started the Mushtaq Ali event with a win over Services before losing a last-over thriller to Maharashtra. Sanju Samson, who returned to captain his state side against Maharashtra, was absent in this match.

Brief scores: Nagaland 120/8 in 20 overs (Shamphri 32, Basil N P 3/16, Basil Thampi 2/27) lost to Kerala 121/2 (Rohan S Kunnummal 57, Sachin Baby 48 not out)