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Punjab survives at Himachal's expense

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: A gritty Punjab stayed alive in the qualifying race by dashing the hopes of Himachal Pradesh even as Delhi and Haryana won, as expected, for the second time in as many days of the North Zone twenty20 league at the Palam ground here on Thursday.

In a match where both teams needed a win to keep alive hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage, Punjab scored a last-ball triumph over Himachal with six wickets to spare.

In the two other matches, Delhi trounced Jammu and Kashmir by 19 runs before Haryana registered a six-wicket triumph over Services.

Delhi and Haryana have eight points, followed by Punjab and Services (four each). Himachal and J&K are yet to open their accounts after two successive defeats.

The top-two teams, from each of the five zones, qualify for the knockout phase.

Punjab chased down the target of 129 following a last-ball boundary by Mandeep Singh.

At this stage, Punjab needed 27 runs off 18 deliveries. The 18th over, bowled by Abhinav Bali, proved decisive. Mandeep Singh (33 not out) and Vipul Sharma managed 14 runs off the over that saw a missed stumping chance resulting in four byes and a boundary.

A resurgent Punjab now plays Delhi on Friday. Delhi had no trouble in brushing aside J&K at the adjacent ground.

Opener Chetan Sharma (47 off 34 deliveries) and Rajat Bhatia, who was promoted to the number four spot, helped Delhi set a target of 143.

Once J&K slumped from a promising 27 without loss in the fifth over to 37 for five in the ninth, Delhi took it easy.

Kapil Yadav helped himself to four wickets for 14 runs while Javed Ahmed contributed 47 runs off 40 deliveries to get J&K closer to the target.

Later, Haryana's six-wicket victory over Services came after Dhruv Singh (57 not out) and Hemang Badani (42) hit a six and four boundaries each. Their 68-run stand for the fourth wicket made the difference.

The scores: Himachal Pradesh 128 for seven in 20 overs (Vinit Indulkar 41, Hemant Dogra 24, Vipul Sharma four for 22, Love Ablish two for 28) lost to Punjab 132 for four in 20 overs (Ravi Inder Singh 43, Mandeep Singh 33 not out, Abhinav Bali two for 24).

Delhi 142 for nine in 20 overs (Chetan Sharma 47, Rajat Bhatia 36, Raman Dutta three for 28, Abid Nabi two for 20) beat Jammu and Kashmir 123 in 20 overs (Javed Ahmed 47, Kapil Yadav four for 15, Pradeep Sangwan two for 23).

Services 132 for six in 20 overs (Yashpal Singh 54, Sanjeev Mishra 30, Sumit Singh 24, Sanjay Budhwar three for 23) lost to Haryana 134 for four in 19 overs (Dhruv Sinmgh 57, Hemang Badani 42, Suraj Yadav two for 25).

Vikas, Pawan shine

Vikas Mishra and Pawan Suyal captured three wickets each to help Delhi thrash Vidarbha by an innings and 124 runs on the final day of the under-22 Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy cricket match at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here on Thursday.

Delhi collected six points, including a bonus point, because of the win.

The scores: Vidarbha 121 and 233 in 92.2 overs (Aditya Shanwari 68 not out, Aditya Sarwate 53, Amol Jungde 30, Vikas Mishra three for 48, Pawan Suyal three for 74, Mahir Sharma two for 34) lost to Delhi 478 for six .

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