DY Patil T20 Cup: Hardik Pandya leads Reliance 1 into semis

Nerul (Navi Mumbai): Hardik Pandya turned in yet another all-round performance to help Reliance 1 inch ahead to the semi-final of the 16th DY Patil T20 Cup at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday.

Pandya blasted a 29-ball 46 (1x4, 4x6) after being promoted to one drop position against DY Patil A. Later with the ball he bowled a crucial spell of two for 39 as Reliance 1 emerged winner eventually by a narrow margin of seven runs.

The star of Reliance 1's batting was Anmolpreet Singh (93: 60b, 8x4, 3x6) who shared a rapid opening stand worth of 101 with India white-ball opener Shikhar Dhawan (43: 28b, 6x4, 1x6). The chase for DY Patil A almost worked out well with handy contributions especially from Shubham Ranjane (43) and Rinku Singh (36), but their effort ended with the score at 198-9. For Reliance 1 the most successful bowler was Digvijay Deshmukh (3-25).

Reliance 1 will now face BPCL in the semi-final on Friday. BPCL got through after posting an impressive 190-4 in their 20 overs in the first quarter-final played at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday against RBI. Akhil Herwadkar (65: 41b, 8x4, 1x6) was the key contributor alongside opener Aakarshit Gomel (36). Two India white ball players Shivam Dube (33 n.o.) and Shreyas Iyer (18) also made their presence felt in the BPCL innings. The chase for RBI was progressing well till they lost wickets at regular intervals to finish at 176-8, 14 short of the target.

The other semi-final on Friday will be played between Indian Oil and Western Railway.

At the University Ground in the morning, Western Railway chased down a tall Income Tax total of 217-5. The chase for Western Railway was fashioned by half-centuries from Mrunal Devdhar (68), Asat Khan Pathan (67) and Ahad Malik. Western Railway romped home with five wickets to spare.

Indian Oil meanwhile chased down Indian Navy's 183 with two wickets to spare. Mumbai wicket-keeper batsman Aditya Tare played a captain's knock as he slammed 44-ball 56 (4x4, 2x6). Aiding Tare was Rohan Raje's effort of 30 off 21 balls. Raje also made a useful contribution with the ball to finish with figures of 3-35. Indian Oil won the contest with two balls to spare.

The finals day in the tournament is scheduled for Friday. The two semi-finals will be played simultaneously from noon at the two adjoining grounds. The final is slated for 6 pm on Friday. The entry for the finals day like the rest of the tournament will be free of cost.

BRIEF SCORES

At DY Patil Stadium

BPCL 190-4 in 20 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 65, Aakarshit Gomel 36, Shivam Dube 33 n.o., Rahul Tripathi 23 n.o.; Ali Murtaza 2-32) bt RBI 176-8 in 20 overs (Sayan Mondal 52, Deepak Hooda 40, Sumit Ghadigaonkar 34, Jyot Chhaya 24; Shivam Dube 3-26; Sagar Udeshi 2-21, Parikshit Valsangkar 2-34)-by 14 runs

Reliance 1 205-4 in 20 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 93, Hardik Pandya 46, Shikhar Dhawan 43; Subodh Bhati 2-24) bt DY Patil A 198-9 in 20 overs (Shubham Ranjane 43, Rinku Singh 36, Harpreet Singh 26, Dinesh Karthik 23; Digvijay Deshmukh 3-25, Hardik Pandya 2-39)-by seven runs

At University Ground

Income Tax 217-5 in 20 overs (Swapnil Salvi 52, Abhimanyu Chauhan 44, Gaurav Jathar 44 n.o., Rohit Dahoya 44 n.o.; Jay Chauhan 2-26) lost to Western Railway 218-5 in 19 overs (Mrunal Devdhar 68, Asat Khan Pathan 67, Ahad Malik 56; Rohit Dahiya 2-41)-by five wickets

Indian Navy 183 in 18.3 overs (Mohit Ahlawat 57, Lakhan Singh 40, Shubham Rohilla 23, Nakul Sharma 21; Rohan Raje 3-35, Avesh Khan 2-25, Amir Gani 2-34) lost to Indian Oil 187-8 in 19.4 overs (Aditya Tare 56, Siddhesh Lad 31, Rohan Raje 30, Abhishek Sharma 22, Atit Sheth 21 n.o.; Nishan Singh 3-42, Arun Bamal 2-30, Shakti Malviya 2-23)-by two wickets

FIXTURES FOR 6 MARCH (FINALS DAY)

SEMI-FINALS At DY Patil Stadium: 12 noon: BPCL v Reliance 1; At University Ground: Indian Oil v Western Railway

FINAL: At DY Patil Stadium: 6 pm: Winner of the Semi-final 1 v Winner of Semi-final 2