Thursday, March 5, 2009

TN stun Mumbai, Bengal oust Delhi

Agartala: Tamil Nadu stunned Ranji champions Mumbai, while Bengal riding on an unbeaten 96 by India discard Manoj Tiwary ousted Delhi to book their berths in the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy national one-dayers here on Wednesday.


Put to bat at the Polytechnic Institute Ground, Tamil Nadu had problems in the beginning as they lost opener Abhinav Mukund for a duck.


However, Junior Srikkanth, Anirudha came up with a defiant 67 and later skipper Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with a quickfire 46 as Tamil Nadu notched up a challenging 252 for nine in the stipulated 50 overs.


Aniruddha hit six fours and one six in his 88-ball knock, while Ashwin had two sixes and one boundary from 37 deliveries.


Mumbai left arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla bagged three for 43, while Ajinkya Rahane and Usman Malvi took two wickets apiece.


Chasing 253, Mumbai did not have any partnership going and lost wickets at regular intervals as they were bundled out for 196 in 45.5 overs.


Left-arm spinner Vidyut Sivaramakrishan was the most successful bowler bagging three for 32 from 8.5 overs.

In another quarterfinal at Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium, Bengal, a side which was promoted to Ranji Trophy Super League this season, upset Delhi by two wickets.


Electing to field first after skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla won the toss, Bengal stuck to their task with tidy bowling to restricted Delhi at 209 for eight in the stipulated 47 overs.


Delhi struggled to have a partnership going with opener Manan Sharma returning with a top-score of 43.


The match had a 45-minute delay start as the pitch was wet. Both the umpires after consulting the two team captains curtailed the match to a 47-over affair.


Chasing 210, Bengal also struggled as wickets kept on falling at regular intervals. Skipper Shukla made 18 and departed in 23.3 overs.


But the stylish Bengal batsman Tiwary, who has been made the East Zone captain for the upcoming Deodhar Trophy to be held in Cuttack, held on to his end and single-handedly steered the side home.


Tiwary faced 106 balls in his undefeated knock which was laced with nine boundaries.


Bengal will face Baroda, while Tamil Nadu will take on Uttar Pradesh in their last-four matches to be held here on March 6.

Soruce:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/tn-stun-mumbai-bengal-oust-delhi/38795-13.html

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