DY Patil Red trounced CAG by 91 runs, while Income Tax thrashed Tata Sports Club by 41 runs in their respective semi-final matches of the ongoing 18th DY Patil T20 Cup being held in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.

Asked to bat first at the sprawling DY Patil Stadium, the Krunal Pandya led hosts Red outfit, posted a huge score of 221 for seven in their 20 overs. Opener Siddharth Patidar (78: 41b, 10x4, 3x6) and south paw Nitish Rana added 56 runs for the second wicket, after a rare failure of Aman Khan (8), who earlier had scored three half centuries in the tourney. Patidar later added 68 runs for the third wicket with skipper Pandya (44) to keep the momentum going, before being dismissed in the 15^th over by Abid Mushtaq.With 150 runs on the board, all-rounder Pandya (44) valuable added 61 runs for the fourth wicket with Abdul Samad (40) to take the score past the 200 runs mark. The dismissal of the two in the space of six balls provided some relief to the CAG bowlers who did well to limit the hosts in the end. For CAG the best bowlers were Sayan Ghosh (3/30), Rajnish Gurbani (2/34) and Abid Mushtaq (2/30). 

The chase for CAG never took off as only Sanveer Singh (51: 36b, 3x4, 3x6) held firm. in the face of a twin spin attack of Pandya (4/20) and Varun Chakravarthy (4/20) as they shared eight wickets among themselves to ensure a massive win.

On the other hand  at the University Ground, Income Tax made 181 for eight in their 20 overs after opting to bat against Tata Sports Club in the other semi-final. Lalit Yadav (57: 28b, 6x4, 3x6) was the top-scorer for Income Tax.  

In their response Tata was unable to get going. Only skipper Sujit Naik (51: 31b, 4x4, 3x6) provided any fight for Tata. They were eventually bowled out for 140 in 19.1 overs. For Income Tax the best bowlers were Sumit Kumar (3/30) and M Mohammed (2/38) as they made it to the final. 

Brief Scores (Semi-finals):

DY Patil Red – 221/7 in 20 overs (Siddharth Patidar 78, Krunal Pandya 44, Abdul Samad 40, Nitish Rana 34; Sayan Ghosh 3/30, Rajnish Gurbani 2/34, Abid Mushtaq 2/30) beat CAG 130 in 16.1 overs (Sanveer Singh 51; Krunal Pandya 4/20, Varun Chakravarthy 4/20) by 91 runs 

Income Tax – 181/8 in 20 overs (Lalit Yadav 57, Pramod Chandila 48, Anuj Rawat 32 n.o.; Chetan Sakaria 2/32) beat Tata Sports Club – 140 in 19.1 overs (Sujit Naik 51, Anand Bais 29; Sumit Kumar 3/30, M Mohammed 2/38, Pradipta Pramanik 222) by 41 runs