The Hitavada's Rammurthi Nerlay (R) celebrates with wicket-keeper Paritosh Pramanik after taking a wicket against Times of India in the semi-final.
HE WAS jumping; he was dancing; he was running in joy, sometimes even lying down in ecstasy. He had every reason to be. Left-arm spinner Ramamurti Nerlay spun a magical web picking up six wickets, four in four balls, as defending champions The Hitavada thwarted Times of India’s (ToI) challenge by 24 runs at Dr Ambedkar College ground, Deekshabhoomi, on Tuesday, to make it to the summit clash of the 12th Orange City Hospital Inter-Press Invitational Twenty20 Cricket Tournament.
In the other semi-final, Lokmat drubbed Loksatta by nine wickets to make it to their third consecutive final.
Nerlay’s four wickets in four consecutive deliveries was just the icing on the cake for the defending champions, who were struggling in their last two outings. For ToI, it was disappointment, having won all the matches before the penultimate clash.
Defending a total of 165 runs, The Hitavada got a major breakthrough in the very first delivery with skipper Susheem Kolay sending ToI’s last match hero Subodh Ratnaparkhi. Rupesh Bhaik (53; 40b, 10x4, 2x6), who joined the floor with opener Suhas Nayse (37; 36b, 2x4), then played some delightful strokes. Both Nayse and Bhaik had no problems against The Hitavada seamers.
Praveen Lokhande was targeted by Bhaik who smashed the offie for 23 runs including four boundaries and a six in one over. ToI were cruising at 93 for 1 at the end of the eleventh over. Kolay’s decision of bringing on Anupam Timothy (2-18) clicked as the off-spinner got Bhaik stumped by Paritosh Pramanik. The wicket started the slump as ToI lost Nayse and Yogesh Banait in quick succession.
After that it was all Nerlay show. Rajesh Jaiswal (26; 17b, 1x6) kept the ToI supporters’ hopes alive but the creeping run rate and Nerlay’s accuracy led to their downfall. In his last over Nerlay picked up four wickets—first getting Jaiswal caught by Hitesh Limbachia, then had Sandeep Dabhekar stumped and then clean bowled two tailenders—to end up with a dream figures of 3.5-0-20-6.
Earlier, opener Kamlesh Waghire (65; 53b, 6x4) and Lokhande (54; 35b, 8x4, 1x6) batted brilliantly to power The Hitavada to a healthy 165 for 3 in 20 overs. Kolay chipped in with unbeaten 29. Waghire rode his luck to carry his bat through in which he played some delightful shots. Lokhande too was the usual attacking self.
In the first semis, Amit Khodke of Lokmat cracked a 65-ball unbeaten 83 as Lokmat breezed past Loksatta. Loksatta posted a modest 130 for 6 in 20 overs. Devendra Sadavarti top scored with 46. Khodke and Pawan Dhande (29; 26b, 2x4) knocked off the required runs in 16.5 overs.
Rajkumar Tirpude, President, Yugantar Education Society, Mohan Nahatkar, Secretary, Rajendra High School, Sudhiranjan Sinha, Deputy General Manager, State Bank of India, and M K Joshi, Manager (OS), LIC of India, were the chief guests during the semi-finals.
The final will be played on Thursday at the same venue at 9 am.
Report: The Hitavada
Pics by S Sudarshan
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