Uttar Pradesh 159 for 7 (Dwivedi 49*, Saini 2-24) beat Delhi 158 for 6 (Chand 48, Negi 41*, Mishra 2-25) by three wickets
File photo: Unmukt Chand’s 35-ball 48 went in vain for Delhi © BCCI
Uttar Pradesh will face Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final after completing their eighth win on the trot, by beating Delhi by three wickets at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
Chasing 159, UP were reduced to 68 for 5 in the 11th over with twin-strikes from medium-pacer Navdeep Saini. Left-arm spinner Manan Sharma got the important wicket of Suresh Raina in the seventh over, for 22, after the batsman had struck four fours. Eklavya Dwivedi then took control of the chase with an unbeaten 49 from 35. He partnered with Praveen Kumar (18 off 13) to add 40 runs for the seventh wicket, after which he shared an unbroken 31-run stand with Amit Mishra (19 off nine) to take UP home with two balls to spare. Dwivedi smacked five fours and two sixes during his knock.
Put in to bat, Delhi were hauled to 158 for 6 by opener Unmukt Chand’s 35-ball 48 and No. 7 Pawan Negi’s unbeaten 41 from 23. Delhi were 95 for 5 in the 14th over after their top and middle order was dented mainly by the spinners. Medium-pacer Amit Mishra removed Gautam Gambhir for 13 and Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav took two each before Mishra also dismissed Chand in the 12th over, and soon Delhi were 105 for 6 in the 15th over. But Negi’s late surge lifted them in the death overs. He paired with Manan Sharma to add an unbeaten 53 in the last 5.1 overs to take them past 150.
Gujarat 146 for 4 (Panchal 35, Juneja 33) beat Jharkhand 142 for 6 (Jaggi 39) by six wickets
Scorecard
Jharkhand slumped to their third straight loss as Gujarat strolled to a six-wicket win, hunting down the target of 143 with 35 balls to spare, in Mumbai. Gujarat chose to bowl, and their bowlers gained the ascendancy with early wickets. Jharkhand lost three wickets and struggled to find the boundaries in the first 10 overs, which yielded 52 runs.
However, the middle order – Saurabh Tiwary (22), Ishank Jaggi (39) and Kumar Deobrat (21) – provided the required acceleration with brisk cameos. The last 10 overs produced 90 runs as Jharkhand finished with 142 for 6. Rush Kalaria picked up two wickets while RP Singh produced figures of 1 for 20 in his four overs.
In the chase, openers Parthiv Patel and Priyank Kirit Panchal got quickly into their stride. The pair added 26 in 18 balls before Parthiv was bowled off the bowling of Vikash Singh. Manpreet Juneja and Panchal then combined for a 58-run stand, before both fell in quick succession.
However, Gujarat’s middle order’s quickfire contributions – all struck at a strike rate of over 200 – helped them romp to the target in 14.1 overs. Kaushal Singh claimed two scalps, but all the Jharkhand bowlers lacked economy.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo