Pacer Saini was deservingly named man of the match as he provided much-needed support to Negi in the tense run chase after taking four wickets that limited Jharkhand to 199 all out in 48.5 overs
Pawan Negi
Pawan Negi, batting at No. 9, scored an unbeaten 39 under intense pressure, helping Delhi pull off a thrilling two-wicket win over Jharkhand in the second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Thursday.
Chasing 200, Delhi were down and out at 149 for eight in the 38th over before Negi and Navdeep Saini (13 not out off 38) batted for almost 12 overs, sharing a match-winning 51-run stand for the ninth wicket.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pacer Saini was deservingly named man of the match as he provided much-needed support to Negi in the tense run chase after taking four wickets that limited Jharkhand to 199 all out in 48.5 overs.
Delhi, who have won the tournament once, meet the mighty Mumbai in the final on Saturday. With his stellar effort, Negi has attracted attention after a long time, having slipped off the radar after bagging a million dollar T20 deal in 2016. The southpaw, who had also played a T20 for India in the same year, collected five fours and a six in his gritty knock.
Unmukt Chand, who made 17 off 13 balls, began the chase with a flurry of boundaries before falling to pacer Varun Aaron, driving the ball straight to Anand Singh at cover-point.
In-form captain Gautam Gambhir (27), Dhruv Shorey (15) and Nitish Rana (39), all got starts but none could convert them into a big score. Jharkhand medium pacer Anand Singh wreaked havoc by claiming three wickets as Delhi slumped from 51 for one to 87 for four. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem joined the party by bagging two wickets as Delhi collapsed to 123 for five to 149 for eight, putting Jharkhand on the verge of a famous win before Negi spoiled their party.
Sent into bat, Virat Singh's half century helped Jharkhand reach a fighting total. He stitched 55 and 44-run partnerships with Nadeem (29) and Rahul Shukla (11) for the seventh and ninth wicket.
At one stage, Jharkhand were struggling at 85 for six, with Navdeep Saini and Kulwant Khejroliya doing the damage. Saini bagged four wickets and Khejrolia and medium pacer Pranshu Vijayran claimed two each. Saini took the wickets of Ishan Kishan (0), Saurabh Tiwary (6), Kumar Deobrat (3), while Khejrolia removed Anand Singh (36) and Shasheem Sanjay Rathour (5).
Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
