Haryana win National U-15 20-20 trophy

Chandigarh, Oct 30 (UNI) Haryana snatched a thrilling 33-run victory over formidable and strong contenders Association for Twenty20 Cricket (India) in the final of the inaugural National Under-15 Twenty20 Cricket Championship organised by the ATC (India) at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium here today.

ATC won the toss and invited Haryana to bat first. Their openers Rahul Sharma (24, 4x4s) and Aneesh Jain (28, 5x4s) gave Haryana a good start as they realised 54 runs before the latter was caught by Rohit of the bowling of Kunal (3 for 17).

With the addition of four more overs, Rahul also departed as he was bowled by Rohit (2 for 41).

Then Dharminder played an entertaining innings of 56 which contained five fours and two sixes. He contributed 31 runs with Amit Panchal (16) and later in association with Ashish Sharma (36, 5x4s) Dharminder put on 57 valuable runs.

Dharminder enjoyed two lives. At his individual score of 11 and team's total of 79, Rohit dropped him of the bowling of Kunal. Rohit was culprit again as he floored Dharminder when his individual score was 22 and team's 107. This time ATC bowler Harpreet was the sufferer.

Haryana posted an impressive total of 191 for 8 in 20 overs.

Kunal and Rohit got three and two wickets each for ATC.

Chasing a big total, ATC were under pressure from the beginning.

They suffered an early jolt when opener Devrath (0) was caught by Dharminder of the bowling of Sunil (1 for 34) with scoreboard reading 1.

Other opener Gaurav Tandon (28) departed at 38. After that ATC were losing wickets at regular intervals. Only Harpreet and Rhonit played defiant innings of 49 and 31, respectively. Kunal remained not out on 15. ATC could muster only 158 for 8.

Chandigarh Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum Sports Director Inderjit Singh Sandhu distributed the prizes. He praised the organisers for conducting such tournaments and providing an opportunity to show their talents.

Brief scores: Haryana: 191 for 8 in 20 overs (Rahul Sharma 24, 4x4s, Aneesh Jain 28, 5x4s, Dharminder 56, 5x4s, 2x6s, Amit Panchal 16,Ashish Sharma 36, Ravi Kumar 15 not out, Kunal 3 for 17, Rohit 2 for 41, Harpreet 1 for 35, Vishu 1 for 22).

Association for Twenty20 Cricket (India): 158 for 8 in 20 overs (Gaurav Tandon 28, 6x4s, Harpreet 49, Rhonit 31, 5x4s, Kunal not out 15, Ravi 2 for 39, Ashish 2 for 28, Sunil 1 for 34, Rahul 1 for 16).

Best batsman: Rahul Sharma (Haryana).

Best bowler: Kunal Grover (ATC).

Best all-rounder: Harpreet Mander (ATC).

Best wicketkeeper: Dharminder (Haryana).

Best fielder: Gaurav Tandon (ATC).

Man of the Match: Ashish Sharma (Haryana).

UNI