Kolkata Tigers win against Chandigarh Lions by 22runs

Abhishek Jhunjhunwala & Abu Nechim jointly declared Man of the Match

The 22nd match of the Edelweiss 20s Challenge was played at the sparkling new venue of the ICL at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Gurgaon, featuring the Chandigarh Lions take on the Kolkata Tigers in a virtual quarter final match. A win was a must for both sides to have any chance of advancing to the semi final stage of the Edelweiss 20s Challenge. Barry Richards & Jeff Thomson in their pitch report expected the track to carry low bounce, making it a stiff challenge for the batsmen, especially in the 2nd innings.

McMillan won the toss and elected to bat on a track that was expected to wear off quickly. In the End it was Tigers who came out tops defeating the Lions by 22runs. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala & Abu Nechim were jointly declared the Man of the Match.

The Tigers opened their batting with their left-right combination of Klusener & Das. It was a promising start for the Tigers, with Das hitting three cracking fours off Hall, but it was Hall who had the last laugh trapping the promising Das leg before wicket for 12 in an eventful first over. The Lions bowled a disciplined line and length, restricting the Tigers to 34/1 at the end of the 5th over.

It was tough going for Klusener & Jhunjhunwala, dealing only in singles & two's as boundaries were hard to come by. By the 8th over, the Tigers were placed at a modest 51/1. The Zulu onslaught began in the 9th over and consecutive hits to the boundary of TP Singh, had the Tigers roaring back with 83/1 at the end of the 11th over.

However a good piece of fielding found Klusener back in the Tigers dugout, run out for a well made 38. By the end of the 15th over, the Tigers were well placed at 122/2 with Jhunjhunwala anchoring the innings. Some lovely batting from Jhunjhunwala ably supported by the Rohan Gavaskar, helped the Tigers reach a competitive total of 165/7.

In reply to the stiff target, the Lions opened with their experienced duo of Elliott & Vincent; however they could not get a big start with Andre Adams continuing his good form at the Edelweiss 20s Challenge, knocking Elliott's stumps to reduce the Lions to 9/1 in the 3rd over. At the end of the 6th over, the Lions were in a bit of a bother placed at 28/2 needing another 138 runs to win at nearly 10 runs per over. The pressure finally got to Vincent who found his stumps rattled, trying to slog the young Abu Nechim, leaving the Lions in big trouble at 32/3.

Abu Nechim with his slinging action was working up some good pace around the 140 kmp & was rewarded with a second wicket when he castled the dangerous Andrew Hall in his 2nd over. It was working out to be a dream debut for the young Abu at the Edelweiss 20s Challenge, when he picked up the big wicket Chris Cairns, reducing the Lions batting in absolute disarray at 59/5.

Three consecutive sixes from TP Singh off Chandana resulted in 22runs off the 14th over, giving the Lions a small chance of reaching the formidable total. The Lions needed 55 off the last five overs at 11runs per over & 4 wickets in hand with the impressive TP Singh holding the key for the Lions. However, TP Singh's cameo of 34 runs off only 16 balls came to an end in the 17th over making the target that much more difficult for the Lions. In the end the Lions fell short of target by 22 runs.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Tigers165/7in 20overs (Jhunjhunwala62, Klusener 38, Hall 3/37) win by 22runs Against Chandigarh Lions 143 all out in 18.2 overs (TP Singh34, M Sharma 23, A Nechim 4/27)

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