On a day of upsets, Punjab and Baroda chased down targets successfully to knock out fancied outfits Mumbai and Delhi and enter the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali All India T20 tournament on Monday.
Published: Mar 26, 2012, 08:56 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 26, 2012, 08:56 PM (IST)
Punjab rode on Mumbai’s poor batting to restrict the hosts to a meagre 122 for 9 and then chased the target with five wickets and six balls to spare in the second semi-final
Mumbai: Mar 26, 2012
On a day of upsets, Punjab and Baroda chased down targets successfully to knock out fancied outfits Mumbai and Delhi and enter the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali All India T20 tournament on Monday.
Delhi
Punjab rode on Mumbai’s poor batting to restrict the hosts to a meagre 122 for 9 and then chased the target with five wickets and six balls to spare in the second semi-final.
Earlier, Kedar Devdhar cracked a superb 96 to power his side to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Delhi with 2.5 overs to spare in the first semi-final at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s BKC ground.
The final is to be held at the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday.
Diminutive Devdhar and his second wicket partnership with
Aditya Waghmode took the game away from Delhi in the morning after the northern outfit piled up a challenging 169 for 9 built mainly around opener Shikhar Dhawan’s 62 in 42 balls.
Deodhar struck six sixes, all on the leg side and three of them in one over from Mithun Manhas, and 11 fours in his 40-ball whirlwind innings to take the stuffing out of the Delhi ranks.
After the fall of an early wicket, Devdhar – who was sent in at No. 3 after having opened in the previous game – and Waghmode, who made 60 in 40 balls with 8 fours and a six, put on 133 runs off only 65 balls to seal their rivals’ fate.
The deciding over in the match was the 12th in the run-chase when Devdhar waded into Manhas and clubbed the slow bowler for three sixes – over square leg and mid wicket – and a four.
In the previous over, Delhi had given away 11 runs. Both the batsmen were dismissed by Pawan Negi, but by then the match was as good as finished in Baroda’s favour. Negi finished with 2 for 33.(PTI)
