Income Tax, CAG and Tata Sports Club too make the last four stage

Former champions DY Patil Red and Blue teams had contrasting results in their favour against their opponents Reliance 1 and CAG respectively in their quarter-final knock-out ties of the 18th DY Patil T20 Cup at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.

On the other hand Income Tax and Tata Sports Club registered massive wins over their opponents Indian Oil and Jain Irrigation on a batting friendly University Ground track as they booked their place in the semis.

In an exciting final quarter-final match, Jammu and Kashmir’s rising star Abdul Samad blinder with the willow and his 70-runs unbeaten alliance with Parth Sahani (25 n.o.) for the fifth wicket saw Krunal Pandya’s DY Patil Red overhaul a competitive score of 188 for six set by his younger sibling Hardik Pandya’s Reliance 1, with two balls to spare. The same came at the back of a strong foundation provided by their young openers Aman Khan (40) and Siddharth Patidar (36) had added 62 runs inside powerplay. Experienced leg spinner Piyush Chawla (2/31) snapped two wickets soon after including that of Aman as the Red lost three wickets in quick succession for further addition of 18 runs.

 Needing 23 off the final 12 balls, the right handed batter Samad who played a waiting game, took on medium pacer Akash Madhwal (1/36)  by scoring a much needed boundary to point region and followed it with a six off to long-off in the final two balls of his third over to release the pressure consecutive balls in what turned out to be a productive 14 run penultimate over. A six over deep mid-wicket followed by a single two balls by Samad later off left arm pacer Abilash Shetty (0/27) in the final over saw the Krunal Pandya team home.

Earlier Reliance 1 which elected to bat first were well served by their wicket keeper batter Vishnu Vinod (79) who hit nine fours and four sixes in his 40 ball stay before being castled by Krunal (1/53). For DY Patil Red the tall lanky off spinner Prince B (3/30) whose scalp included rival skipper Hardik Pandya (17) was their best bowler. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (1/26) did well to stem the flow of runs in the death overs.

At the University Ground, after opting to bat, Income Tax posted 205 for six in their 20 overs and in their response Jain was shot out for a mere 83 in 13.2 overs in the third quarter-final match.

The top-scorer for Income Tax was their captain Mahipal Lomror (55 n.o.: 33b, 2x4, 4x6) who anchored the innings well after his openers Vishant More (43) and Chirag Gandhi (38) had added 89 for the first wicket. For Jain the best bowler was Sairaj Patil (3/35).

Chasing a massive score, Jain Irrigation which had put up a tough fight against defending champions Reliance 1 in the final league match however faltered in the knock-out phase as they lost wickets at regular intervals. For Income Tax the best bowlers were Sumit Kumar (3/22), Ishan Porel (3/10) and India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3/17).  

Earlier, India opener  Shikhar Dhawan’s valiant unbeaten knock of 99 went in vain as DY Patil Blue went down to CAG by six wickets in the first quarter-final at the DY Patil Stadium in the final over of the match.

 At the Stadium, Blue after being asked to bat was well served by Dhawan who carried the bat as wickets fell around. Dhawan ended unbeaten on 99 off just 51 balls with eight boundaries and six sixes. For CAG the best bowlers were Sanveer Singh (2/30) and Writwick Chatterjee (2/23). Blue finished on 182 for six in their 20 overs,

The chase for CAG was fashioned by opener Varun Lavande (73: 53b, 9x4, 2x6). Towards the end Sanveer Singh played unbeaten cameo worth 45 off 27 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. CAG finished on 185 for four in 19.1 overs to win by six wickets.

 In the other quarter-final at the DY Patil University Ground, Tata Sports Club thrashed Indian Oil by a whopping 60 runs to make it to the semi-final. 

 Tata made 232 for five in their 20 overs. Sufiyan Shaikh (64: 36b, 7x4, 2x6) added 107 runs for the second wicket with Chinmay Sutar (61: 39b, 5x4, 3x6). Only Rohan Raje (2/38) managed to hold his nerves in the face of extreme pressure. 

In their response Indian Oil kept losing wickets at regular intervals. For Tata the best bowler was Shorabh Phaliwal (3/15). Indian Oil was finally bowled out for 172 in 19.4 overs. 

DY Patil Red will next meet CAG in the first semis, while Tata Sports Club will square off against Income Tax for a place in the final.

 Brief Scores (Quarter-finals)

# DY Patil Blue - 182/6 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 99 n.o., Abhijit Tomar 31; Writwick Chatterjee 2/23, Sanveer Singh 2/30) lost to CAG - 185/4 in 19.1 overs (Varun Lavande 73, Sanveer Singh 45 n.o.; Vipul Krishnan 2/37) by six wickets

# Tata Sports Club - 232/5 in 20 overs (Sufiyan Shaikh 64, Chinmay Sutra 61, Samarth Vyas 39; Rohan Raje 2/38) beat Indian Oil - 172 in 19.4 overs (Akshay Raghuvanshi 30, Ankush Bains 22; Shorabh Phaliiwal 3/15) by 60 runs.

 # Income Tax -  205/6 in 20 overs (Mahipal Lomror 55 n.o., Vishant More 43, Chirag Gandhi 38; Sairaj Patil 3/35) beat Jain Irrigation – 83 all-out  in 13.2 overs (Yash Nahar 20; Sumit Kumar 3/22, Ishan Porel 3/10, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/17) by 122 runs. Player of the Match: Mahipal Lomror (Income Tax)

# Reliance 1 – 188/6 in 20 overs (Vishnu Vinod 79; Prince B 3/30) lost to DY Patil Red - 189/4 in 19.4 overs (Abdul Samad 49 n.o., Aman Khan 40, Siddharth Patidar 36, Krunal Pandya 21; Piyush Chawla 2/31) by six wickets. Player of the Match: Abdul Samad (DY Patil Red)