Tigers win nail-biter to go into semis
Posted on Mar 30, 2008 at 13:33 | Updated Mar 30, 2008 at 21:38
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Gurgaon: In a nail-biting finish, Kolkata Tigers clinched a thriller by 1 run against Delhi Giants to book a place for themselves in the semifinals of the second edition of the Indian Cricket League's Twenty20 tourney here at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium on Thursday.
It was Lance Klusener's half-century and an outstanding three-wicket haul by Upul Chandana that helped the Tigers have the last laugh.
Opting to bat first, Kolkata Tigers could manage to post a modest 142-4 in their allotted 20 overs, despite Klusener's fine unbeaten knock.
Even after getting off to a good start and losing just four wickets in the process, the Tigers were unable to dominate proceedings. Klusener was the lone batsman, who made a steady 62 not out from 61 balls with 8 fours. He also shared two important partnerships of 57 with Deep Dasgupta and then of 49 with skipper Craig McMillan.
In reply, Giants managed to reach close but failed to scrape out a win. Needing 14 runs for a victory from the last over, Dishant Yagnik (11) and Taduri Sudhindra (14) were on the crease do the job.
The experienced Lance Klusener was handed over the ball to bowl out those crucial 6 deliveries and in the second ball itself he took Sudhindra's wicket. But that brought New Zealand’s Shane Bond to the middle.
Bond and Yagnik then reduced the margin and made it 10 runs from last two balls. However, Klusener decided to give Tigers some more anxious moments.
The penultimate ball was hit for two runs but the umpire signalled it a no-ball and that added another run to the total besides, giving the Giants a chance for a free hit.
Bond, determined to make full use of the advantage gained, he sent the ball for a boundary, hence making it 3 required off the final ball of the match.
Nonetheless, Klusener brought all his experience to bowl that last delivery to win the match by giving away just one run to the opposition.
Earlier, Giants made a perfect start with Avishka Gunawardene and Mohnish Mishra giving them just the right platform. Mishra came out with all guns blazing when he made a quick-fire 27 in 16 balls before getting out.
Gunawardene, however, kept the momentum going along with Dhruv Mahajan (13) and were comfortably placed at 78 in 11th over when Upul Chandana took Dhruv's wicket.
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