The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Gony takes a hat-trick

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Gony takes a hat-trick

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Shikhar Dhawan’s long overdue knock against Haryana almost ensured Delhi’s qualification for the knockout phase from the North Zone Twenty20 cricket league here at the Palam ground.

In what was virtually a semifinal encounter in the six-team league, Delhi came out victorious by seven wickets. Another victory on Sunday, against the last-placed Services, will clear Delhi’s passage to the 10-team knockout stage.

With Haryana out of the qualifying race, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh joined Delhi at 12 points after warming up for their keenly-awaited showdown on Sunday with expected victories against Services and Jammu & Kashmir, respectively. The winner of the Punjab-Himachal match will also qualify.

With Manpreet Singh Gony performing a rare hat-trick in the shortest format of the game, Punjab easily stopped Services by 55 runs. The well-built medium pacer bowled Mumtaz Qadir, Sachin Nadkarni and Ritesh Negi in the 17th over.

Later, Himachal chased down a challenging target set by J & K with six wickets to spare.

But the day belonged to a fortuitous Dhawan who made Haryana pay for three dropped chances with an unbeaten match-winning 75. The loss of two early wickets meant little once Dhawan, who smashed a six besides eight boundaries, and skipper Aakash Chopra (31 off 29 balls) prospered in a 76-run stand spread over 11.1 overs for the third wicket as Delhi overhauled the target of 129 in the 19th over.

Haryana, like against Punjab in its opener, flattered to deceive after a roaring start. With openers Ankit Rawat and Rahul Diwan in full flow, Haryana raced away to 77 in the 10th over.

The scores:

Haryana 128 for nine in 20 overs (Ankit Rawat 51, Rahul Dewan 35, Pradeep Sangwan three for 22, Sumit Narwal three for 23, Farman Ahmed two for 18) lost to Delhi 130 for three in 18.2 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 75, Aakash Chopra 31).

Punjab 173 for five in 20 overs (Chandan Madan 69 not out, Mayank Sadana 35, Manpreet Gony 34, Sunil Singh two for 34) beat Services 118 for eight in 20 overs (Yashpal Singh 52, Mumtaz Qadir 20, Manpreet Gony four for 16, Bharat Loomba two for 16).

Jammu and Kashmir 150 for eight in 20 overs (Hiken Shah 33, Dhruv Mahajan 27, Abid Nabi 26, Manzoor Elahi 23 not out, Vikramjit Malik two for 29, Ashok Thakur two for 29) lost to Himachal Pradesh 152 for four in 18.1 overs (Sangram Singh 65 not out, Ajay Mannu 41, Dhruv Mahajan two for 29).

Points position (after four rounds): 1-3. Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh (12 each), 4. Haryana (8), 5. Jammu & Kashmir (4), 6. Services 0.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport