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Giants restricts Champs

Special Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: New Zealand speedster Shane Bond made his presence felt as Delhi Giants restricted Mumbai Champs to 115 for five in the Indian Cricket League’s Edelweiss 20s Challenge at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium at Panchkula, here on Monday.

The 32-year-old, a fresh addition to Delhi Giants which played the earlier edition as Delhi Jets, gave away just 18 runs in his four overs besides taking a catch. On a good batting pitch, Bond’s disciplined show denied a flying start as well as a finish-with-a-flourish for the opposition. Ali Murtaza took two wickets for 16 runs.

Reasonable start

Electing to bat, Champs was off to a reasonably good start with Sri Lankan Saman Jayantha (19, 3x4) and Dhiraj Jadhav (27, 2x4) raising 41 runs in 6.5 overs.

Once Benkenstein was introduced, Jayantha holed out to Bond at long off. Strangely, Champs could never improve its strike rate from this stage. Nathan Astle, who batted for 37 deliveries spread over 13.1 overs, struggled and that brought the Champs under pressure.

Named captain of the side after Brian Lara was ruled out for the tournament , Astle failed to rotate the strike while playing with Kiran Powar (20, 3x4) and allowed Giants to dictate the terms. For Delhi Giants, which does not have a single player from Delhi, Ali Murtaza struck vital blows.

The scores: Mumbai Champs 115 for five in 20 overs (Nathan Astle 32 n.o., Dhiraj Jadhav 27, Ali Murtaza two for 16) vs. Delhi Giants.

Sunday’s result: Ahmedabad Rockets 158 for five in 20 overs bt Chandigarh Lions 139 for six in 20 overs (Mathew Elliott 39, Cairns 21, T.P. Singh 20, Streak two for 25).

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