The fourth round of T20 league matches saw the race for the top four get a little clearer.
In Saturday’s opener, the Stars got off to an excellent start against the Tigers, with an opening partnership of 63 in 5.5 overs by Pardeep Dhillon (38) and Taran Singh (20). Masrur Habib Talha and Junayed Tushar brought Tigers back into the game with two wickets each as Stars went from 63/0 to 66/4. Irtiza Dar (24) and Shivam Chauhan took the total past 100, and the Stars totalled 134/9. Masrur Habib Talha took 3/24 to lead the bowlers.
The Tigers lost an early wicket but Maanik Arora (31 from 14 balls) got their reply off to a rapid start. After Maanik was dismissed, Ali Raza led the way with 61* from just 35 balls, and Tigers won by 6 wickets in just 12.1overs. Tigers are unbeaten after 3 matches while Stars are looking for their first win. Ali Raza was Indus Eatery player of the match and Junaid Tushar Indus Eatery moment of the match.
Ajaypal Singh Gill’s 97, the highest score of the season to date, took the Eagles to a 16 run win over Hurricanes, and kept them in the hunt for a top four finish, while the loss confirmed Hurricanes will lay in Division 2. Eagles batted first, and totalled 170/4 with Ajaypal Singh Gill getting good support from Adeel Illyas (25) and Raheel Zaman (22). Ajaypal Singh Gill’s 97 was from 68 balls with four fours and four sixes.
The Hurricanes were bowled out for 154 in the final over, thanks largely to 51 from captain Wahidur Rahman, with Madhu Bandara making 30. Madusanka Prabath took 4/24 for the Eagles.
The Eagles now have two wins and two losses, while the Hurricanes are winless after four matches. Ajaypal Singh Gil was Indus Eatery player of the match. Indus Eatery moment of the match went to Anmer.
The final match of the day saw two unbeaten teams take each other on, NSK and Royal Challengers.
NSK batted first and six of the eight bats made double figures. Rakesh Negi steadied the innings after the loss of early wickets with 34, and Arif Sheikh (30*) and Raga Ganesan (23) hit hard in a 53 run 7th wicket partnership to take NSK to 166/7. Param Singh took 4/38 with Mukul Dhawan 2/26.
Amit Neghandi (33) and Ranvir Rana got the chase off to a great start with an opening partnership of 66 in 7.4 overs. Rakesh Negi (2/21) broke the partnership and the run rate slowed. Royal Challengers kept it close but 16 runs off the last over proved too much. NSK with four straight wins assured themselves in the top four, with Royal Challengers with two wins and a loss will be in a tight fight for a place in the top tier in the second round.
Indus Eatery player of the match: Rakesh Negi
Indus Eatery moment of the match: Shubbam Sharma (for consecutive sixes that kept RC in the chase)
Full scorecards in the match centre
