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Rajat Bhatia does it for Delhi

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The vast experience of all-rounder Rajat Bhatia carved a five-wicket victory for Delhi in its needle match against a gritty Punjab in the North Zone twenty20 league at the Palam ground here.

Bhatia, playing this third T20 match in less than 48 hours, stepped on the accelerator in the closing overs and came out unconquered with a match-winning 24-ball 37 as Delhi raced past the target of 137 with five deliveries to spare.

Earlier, Bhatia took three wickets during Punjab’s innings of 136 for eight that failed to make the most of an opening stand of 75 runs between Sunny Sohal and Ravi Inder Singh.

Haryana & J & K post win

In the other two matches, Haryana opened its account by beating Himachal Pradesh by 10 runs before Jammu & Kashmir did likewise with a resounding nine-wicket victory over Services.

After two rounds, Delhi is the only unbeaten team in the fray with eight points, followed by Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J & K (four each) and Services (0).

In fact, Delhi’s victory was far less convincing than what the margin suggests. But for the late blitz by Bhatia, who hit a six and four boundaries, and his unfinished 39-run stand with Joginder Singh (24 not out, 11 balls, one 6, three 4s) in just 20 deliveries, Delhi would have been licking its wounds.

For the better part of the chase, Delhi struggled. With Shikhar Dhawan (10) falling early and fellow opener Farman Ahmed repeatedly failing to time his shots, Delhi came under pressure. Thereafter, the departures of Puneet Bisht (9) and Ahmed (14) further brightened Punjabs chances.

Skipper Aakash Chopra did his reputation no good before departing for a boundary-less 22 off 25 deliveries. Chopra’s dismissal left Delhi at 73 for four in the 14th over but ironically this proved the beginning of the end for Punjab.

In walked Sumit Narwal (13 off nine deliveries) and got down to business straightaway. He showed the way by hitting a six and a boundary to rekindle Delhi’s hopes. Once Bhatia chose Reetinder Sodhi for special treatment and the 15th over produced 17 runs, Delhi could breath easy. Later, Joginder hastened the end with some clean hitting and ensured an important victory for the team.

At the adjacent ground, Himachal slipped while chasing Haryana’s 146 for six after maintaining a steady run-rate of just over six runs per over. Himachal needed 43 runs in three overs that stood reduced to 15 off the final over. But Himachal’s hopes ended when Abhinav Bali (54, two 6s, four 4s) and Rishi Dhawan (29, one 6, two 4s) fell to Jitender Billa in the final over.

The scores:

Punjab 136 for eight overs (Sunny Sohal 42, Ravi Inder Singh 42, Chandan Madan 21 not out, Rajat Bhatia three for 33) lost to Delhi 138 for five in 19.1overs (Rajat Bhatia 37 not out, Joginder Singh 24 not out, Akash Chopra 22, Rahul Sharma two for 20).

Haryana 146 for six in 20 overs (Ankit Rawat 56, Sachin Rana 33, Jitender Mehta two for 29) beat Himachal Pradesh 136 for seven in 20 overs (Abhinav Bali 54, Vinit Indulkar 29, Sangram Singh 25, Jitender Billa three for 31).

Services 127 for nine in 20 overs (Mumtaz Qadir 51, Sachin Nadkarni 21, Samiullah Beigh three for 15) lost to Jammu & Kashmir 128 for one in 19.1 overs (Manvinder Bisla 75 not out, Hiken Shah 25 not out, Javed Ahmed 22).

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