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Himachal Pradesh, Delhi qualify

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh reiterated its growing reputation as an emerging force in the region’s limited-over contests by qualifying for the knock-out stage at the expense of once-favourite Punjab in the North Zone Twenty20 league at the Palam ground here on Sunday.

Himachal, which humbled Delhi in the past week, defeated Punjab by 12 runs in a high-scoring battle to book its place in the knock-out phase scheduled for March 2010.

For the second time this year, Himachal and Delhi took the two spots from the zone in the limited-overs competitions. In February, Himachal followed Delhi as the qualifier from the zone’s ODI league.

On Sunday, Himachal won the crunch game by raising the bar when it mattered. Choosing to bat, Himachal stepped up the pace from 87 for four in 14 overs to reach a formidable 165 for six, thanks mainly to Paras Dogra’s unbeaten 58.

Dogra, who hit a six and six boundaries during his 41-ball knock, added 72 runs off 51 balls for the fifth wicket with Mukesh Kumar (41, 1x6, 4x4) and 36 runs off just 18 deliveries with Vinit Indulkar (15) to take the total well past the psychologically important 150-run mark.

Punjab looked equal to the challenge with openers Ravi Inder Singh and Sunny Sohal exploding off the blocks and crossing the 50-run mark in the sixth over. At the halfway stage, Punjab looked in control at 74 for two, but Bipul Sharma’s inability to force the pace brightened Himachal’s prospects.

Thereafter, the mounting run-rate resulted in the Punjab middle-order batsmen tossing away their wickets while attempting big hits. Eventually, Himachal sprinted across the finish line despite conceding 13 runs in the last over.

Stretched

Earlier, Delhi became the first team to qualify by posting a rather unimpressive but important eight-run victory over Services. Medium-pacer Pradeep Sangwan’s last three overs went for 14, 10 and 13 runs as Services managed to come within striking distance of Delhi’s 153 for five in 20 overs.

Delhi’s most successful bowler of the day, off-spinner Yogesh Nagar (three for 15), earned the ignominy of being no-balled for suspect action by umpire Sanjeev Rao in the 11th over. However, he returned to bowl two more overs.

In an inconsequential match, Haryana completed a comprehensive 58-run triumph over Jammu & Kashmir.

The scores: Himachal Pradesh 165 for six in 20 overs (Paras Dogra 58 n.o, Mukesh Sharma 41, Sangram Singh 20, Luv Abhilish three for 44) bt Punjab 153 for eight in 20 overs (Ravi Inder Singh 51, Bipul Sharma 23, Sunny Sohal 20, Sarandeep Singh two for 20, Vikramjit Malik three for 51).

Delhi 153 for five in 20 overs (Rajat Bhatia 44, Aakash Chopra 26, Shikhar Dhawan 25, Farman Ahmed 24, Sachin Nadkarni three for 23) bt Services 145 for eight in 20 overs (Tahir Khan 33, Imran Khan 31, Yashpal Singh 31, Yogesh Nagar three for 15, Pradeep Sangwan two for 40).

Haryana 163 for three in 20 overs (Rahul Dewan 47, Sunny Singh 33 n.o., Ankit Rawat 28, Sachin Rana 25 n.o., Nitin Saini 22) bt Jammu & Kashmir 105 in 19.3 overs (M. Bisla 37, Joginder Sharma three for 17, Bhupinder Lingwal two for six, Amardeep Sonkar two for 10).

Final standings: 1-2 Himachal Pradesh, Delhi (16 points each), 3-4 Punjab, Haryana (12 each), 5. J & K (4) and 6. Services (0).

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