Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20: Preview – November 14

Thursday, November 14 will feature 18 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20, with three matches each in Group A and Group B, four each in Group C, Group D, and Group E. 

Group A (at Visakhapatnam): Services vs Goa, Andhra vs Uttarakhand, Baroda vs Bihar

Group A is currently led by Karnataka and Baroda with Services, Goa, Andhra, and Uttarakhand in the next four spots. Hence the matches between Services and Goa as well as Andhra and Uttarakhand will be key matches to decide the group positions. Baroda will play the bottom-placed Bihar and will look for a big win to improve their Net Run rate.

Group B (at Thumba): Kerala vs Vidarbha, Rajasthan vs Uttar Pradesh, Manipur vs Tamil Nadu

Kerala will face a rampant Vidarbha side and will look to stop them from five wins from five matches. Kerala won their last match against Manipur but have their task cut out against a very good side. Rajasthan will hope for a piece of better luck in the next match against Uttar Pradesh. They lost their last match by just one run in VJD method despite in-form Deepak Chahar’s heroics. Uttar Pradesh is coming out of a victory and will not be an easy team to beat. Tamil Nadu would try to get a big win against Manipur.

Group C (at Chandigarh): Chandigarh vs Chhattisgarh, Punjab vs Railways, Arunachal Pradesh vs Himachal Pradesh, Hyderabad vs Maharashtra

Chhattisgarh and Punjab are leading Group C and they have tricky encounters against Chandigarh and Railways respectively. Four teams-Chandigarh, Railways, Maharashtra, and Hyderabad are on eight points in this group and they will look to move forward in this round of matches. The two bottom-placed teams will also play each other.

Group D (at Mumbai): Haryana vs Puducherry, Bengal vs Mumbai, Assam vs Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh vs Meghalaya

The clash between group toppers Mumbai and second-placed Bengal will be the most attractive clash in this round. Mumbai won all four matches where Bengal lost their last match vs Haryana and will look to bounce back. The match between Haryana and Puducherry is also key as the teams are on the same point and try to get an upper hand in the points table with a win. Madhya Pradesh will also look for a win against Meghalaya to stay in the hunt for the next round.

Group E (at Surat): Delhi vs Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat vs Sikkim, Jharkhand vs Nagaland, Odisha vs Saurashtra

Jharkhand and Delhi are clearly the top two teams in this group and will look to establish their position in the table. Jharkhand have a relatively easy match against Nagaland who managed to win only one of their previous four matches. Delhi also will hope for an easy win against Jammu & Kashmir who had only one win and two of their matches ended with no results out of the total four they played. Gujarat had a big win against Nagaland in the last match and they will focus on a win against Sikkim to challenge Delhi and Jharkhand for the top spots. Saurashtra will also look to bounce back from their loss in the last match against Delhi.