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Tigers cage Lions

Special Correspondent

GURGAON: Tejinder Pal Singh’s late blitzkrieg and Manish Sharma’s combative skills briefly raised hopes for Chandigarh Lions before Kolkata Tigers duly tightened the screws to seal a well-deserved victory in the Indian Cricket League’s Edelweiss 20s Challenge here on Wednesday.

Chasing Tigers’s 165 for seven in 20 overs, Lions was bowled out for 143 in 18.2 overs.

The 22-run victory raised Tigers’s tally to six points from five outings. With two more games in hand, Tigers is firmly in contention for a place in the semifinals.

On the other hand, Lions, with just four points from six matches, is set to join Mumbai Champs and Ahmedabad Rockets in the bunch of also-rans.

Lions lacked the intensity on the field in both sessions. Lions did not take the chances that came its way and let Tigers post a challenging total. Lance Klusener (38, 1x4, 2x6) was let off early by Manish. One-drop Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (62, 5x4, 1x6) played from the first to the last over to ensure Tigers crossed the psychologically important 150-run mark.

When Lions chased, Tigers had its men for the moment. Medium-pacers Abu Nachim, Andre Adams and Nantie Hayward struck by turns. Tejinder and Manish put on 50 runs in just 4.1 overs for the seventh wicket.

Earlier, it turned out to be a bad day for the organisers. There was a fire at the media-box just before the start of the match. After the air-conditioner caught fire, some prompt action saved the situation from getting worse.

The scores: Kolkata Tigers 165 for seven in 20 overs (Abhishek Jhunjhunwala 62, Lance Klusener 38, Andrew Hall three for 37) bt Chandigarh Lions 143 in 18.2 overs (Tejinder Pal Singh 34, Manish Sharma 23, Abu Nachim four for 27, Andre Adams three for 22, Nantie Hayward two for 17).

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