Giants 2, Lions 0

Delhi team records a thrilling win over the Chandigarh outfit via ‘bowl out’

PANCHKULA: The quality of cricket did not match the excitement but the crowds loved every bit of it. Both teams touching the 200-run mark and then being involved in a ‘bowl-out’ was more than they could have asked for.

The fact that the home team lost too would probably not have mattered had it not dented their chances of qualifying for the semifinals. With six points from seven outings, Chandigarh Lions are all but out, while Delhi Giants finished with eight at the end of their eight outings.

Ali Murtaza and Dhruv Mahajan were on target in the ‘bowl out’ for the Delhi team, and with Bipul Sharma, Chetan Sharma, Daryl Tuffy and Andrew Hall all missing for Chandigarh, all five deliveries from each team were not needed. Abbas Ali and Dale Benkenstein missed for Delhi Giants.

It was as thrilling a match as one could expect, especially considering the fact that 200 was only crossed once in the tournament before, by Chennai Superstars, who scored 205-7 against Mumbai Giants a few days ago.

The match itself turned out to be a contest between two opening pairs.

Earlier, openers Tejinder Pal Singh and Sarabjit Singh fired Chandigarh Lions to a mammoth 200-7. As much as their ability to get big shots, it was the inability of the bowlers to stick to a good line and length that helped inflate the score.

Graeme Hick, playing his second match in the championship, struck a brisk 36 off 18 deliveries before express pace bowler Shane Bond produced a twin-strike in which he dismissed Hick and Lou Vincent.

Scorecard

Chandigarh Lions: S Singh b Murtaza 60, TP Singh c Mishra b Benkenstein 65, G Hick b Bond 36, L Vincent c Nixon b Bond 0, M Sharma lbw Murtaza 0, C Sharma obstructing the field 11, Bipul Sharma run out 3, I Malhotra not out 17, A Hall not out 1; Extras: (b-4, w-3) 7; Total (7 wickets) 200; FoW: 1-98, 2-162, 3-162, 4-166, 5-167, 6-180, 7-181; Bowling: Bond 4-0-25-2, Sudhindra 3-0-42-0, Nabi 4-0-42-0, Murtaza 4-0-29-2, Benkenstein 4-0-46-1, Bali 1-0-12-0

Delhi Giants: M Mishra st Sarabjit b Sharma 81, A Gunawardene b Hall 64, A Bali c Bipul b Singh 15, S Abbas Ali c Singh b Tuffey 22, P Nixon not out 6, D Benkenstein not out 2; Extras: (lb-3, w-5, nb-2) 10; Total (4 wickets) 200; FoW: 1-126, 2-167, 3-192, 4-193; Bowling: Hall 4-0-42-1, Tuffey 4-0-33-1, Malhotra 2-0-36-0, Bipul 4-0-37-0, Rajesh Sharma 4-0-31-1, TP Singh 2-0-17-1

Delhi Giants, virtually out of the competition, found unexpected reserves for a splendid resurgence. A 126-run opening stand between Mohnish Mishra and Avishka Gunawardene ensured the tough contest. Mishra produced a dazzling 81 with 10 fours and three sixes during his 44-ball knock while Gunawardene got 64 off 51.

The opening stand was followed by cameos from Abbas Ali and Abhinav Bali but it was finally left to stand-in skipper Paul Nixon to have a crack at the target with nine required off his counterpart Andrew Hall’s last over. Hall kept the ball up to concede just four off the first five balls but was unlucky to see Nixon get an inside-edged four that tied the scores with the Giants reaching 200-4.

TP Singh, who has shown his ability to get quick runs in previous matches too, was quick off the blocks and the score moved to 95 without loss in 10 overs. The former Railways batsman struck 65 off a mere 31 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six. He dominated a 98-run stand with Sarabjit, who was not found wanting in striking boundaries but failed to get singles.

After TP Singh was caught brilliantly by Mishra at mid-wicket off Benkenstein, Sarabjit opened up to muster 60 off 56 balls with four fours and three sixes before becoming Murtaza’s first of two victims.