Bhubaneswar: Nexage Hyderabad got off to a fantastic start in the Tillo Cup 2026 on Saturday, at the Hanuman Jew Stadium in Tillo, Bhadrak. They secured a five-wicket victory after sealing a big run chase against A&S Kolkata.
After winning the toss, Hyderabad invited Kolkata to bat first. Pacer Ayush Roy got the first breakthrough for the side in the form of Dipanshu Upadhyay (1) in the third over.
However, Uttar Pradesh batter Almas Shaukat employed a positive intent to accelerate Kolkata's scoring. He found boundaries in consistent fashion, as Abhishek Yadav played a regressive knock as a second fiddle.
The dismissals of Yadav (14) and Rishikesh Tiwari (5) curtailed the momentum and infused pressure on the side. Soon, Shaukat was also dismissed after playing a sublime knock of 56 off 37 balls, with seven fours and two sixes.
At this point, Kolkata needed a big partnership to stabilize the team's ship. Keeper Suvankar Bal unleashed his aggressive style to turn as the tormentor for the Hyderabad bowlers. He smashed an unbeaten 67 off 24 balls, with five fours and six sixes, while captain Anshuman Pandey hit 21 off 11 balls. Their contributions boosted Kolkata's score to 190. Rahul Rajpal was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets for Hyderabad.
Chasing a big score, Hyderabad needed a strong opening partnership to bring back the side's confidence. The duo of Irshad and Nishant Yadav did the needful, as they were brilliant with their strokeplay and scored boundaries at will. Their sensational batting display stunned the Kolkata bowling unit, as they had no answer to the onslaught.
