4 overs, 4 maidens and a hat-trick: Two young Indian spinners impress in domestic T20 tour

The ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (India’s premier T20 domestic competition) has seen several standout performers in the first 4 rounds but, on Monday saw some extraordinary performances. Vidarbha ambidextrous bowler (can bowl with both hands) Akshay Karnewar was one such performer in Monday's round four. The spinner gave away no runs in his spell of 24 balls and became the first-ever player to concede zero runs in his full quota of overs in men's T20 cricket.

The 29-year-old spinner returned with figures of 4-4-0-2 in his four overs as Vidarbha bowled Manipur out for 55 runs. Meanwhile another spinner, Ravi Bishnoi too had an impressive day at the office, picking up a hattrick. Rajasthan needed to defend 149 runs against Andhra who were 25-1 in four overs before Ravi Bishnoi came into the attack. The leggie first bowled Ashwin Hebbar over before removing Ricky Bhui for a golden duck in a similar fashion. Ona hattrick, the 21-year-old trapped Pinninit Tapaswi leg before on a golden duck leaving Andhra reeling at 25-4 in 4.4 overs. Rajasthan's left-arm orthodox bowler Shubham Kamal Sharma too picked up three wickets as they managed a close 11 run win over their opposition. 

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Venkatesh Iyer continues impressing everyone

Earlier on Monday before Akshay Karnewar's impressive spell, it was Venkatesh Iyer who caught people's attention by bowling one of the most economical spells in T20 cricket history. The right-arm medium pacer bowled his entire quota of four overs, bowling two maidens, conceding only two runs and picking up two wickets (4-2-2-2) against Bihar. In the same match right-arm pacer, Avesh Khan, picked up three wickets in his three-over spell, conceding only six runs.

Venkatesh Iyer has been pushing for a spot with the Indian team ever since producing some beautiful knocks in the IPL, which also saw him stay back as a net bowler for a brief period with the World Cup side and now with the India vs New Zealand squad likely to be announced soon, the player is likely to make the cut, given his continued performance in the Syed Mushtaq trophy. The batting all-rounder has produced scores of 37, 50 (not out), 31 and 36 (not out) while his bowling spells read 1/13 (two overs), 2/20 (three overs), 0/26 (three overs) and 2/2 (four overs)

Image: PTI/ BCCI