Vidarbha pacer Darshan Nalkande picked up his career's maiden five-wicket haul after he destroyed Uttar Pradesh to dismiss them for a lowly 60 in their Group B match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
Electing to bat first backfired for U.P. as they lost three wickets in the first three overs. Playing only in his ninth T20 match, Nalkande's first strike came in the fifth over after he trapped Rinku Singh leg-before after which two further wickets left the side reeling at 31/6.
Nalkande, a Kings XI Punjab in the VIVO Indian Premier League, didn't offer any opportunity for the tail to wag as he dismissed Kuldeep Yadav and Saurabh Kumar in successive balls in the 11th over, bowled Mohsin Khan in the next over and wrapped up the innings after he sent back Yash Dayal in the 15th.
READ: From shy Akola kid to city heartthrob, the story of Darshan Nalkande
The 21-year-old registered career-best figures of 5/13 in 3.4 overs in what was his first fifer in professional cricket, improving his best bowling of 3/25 that he registered in the preceding match against Tripura on Friday.
Last month, he picked up a four-wicket haul in the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Haryana to record his best in List A cricket.
With a modest target to chase, Vidarbha won the match within eight overs and nine wickets to spare.