Chandigarh beat Uttaranchal to lift Twenty-20 trophy

Panchkula, May 28 (UNI) Chandigarh took full advantage of the presence of former Test all-rounder Yograj Singh to carve out an easy seven-wicket victory over inexperienced Uttaranchal in the final of the inaugural Super Zone Twenty20 Cricket Championship here today.

Besides taking one wicket, Yograj Singh kept on cheering and issuing instructions from the pavilion. He is also coach of the Chandigarh team.

A 126-run partnership for the second wicket between Sandeep Kohli (64) and Sajid Khan (21 retired hurt) was the turning point of the match as Chandigarh recorded fluent triumph to lift the Swift Cup.

This pair was going strong when Sajid Khan, while taking a single, slipped and sustained hamstring. Before retiring hurt, Sajid had faced 14 deliveries and hit two fours and one six. Sandeep Kohli, who was rightly declared man of the match, was joined by former Punjab Ranji player Harikishan Kali.

Kali batted well to pile up 38 runs in 32 deliveries. He slammed one six and three fours. Sandeep Kohli, who was caught and bowled by Sunny Rana, compiled authoritative 64 runs with the help of 10 fours and one six in just 47 balls.

Opener Prabhjot Singh contributed 13 runs and Chandigarh scored 145 for 3 in 17.3 overs.

Earlier, though Uttaranchal lost the final, they were not disgraced. They scored an impressive 144 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs.

The highlight of their innings was putting on 38 runs in the last two overs. Yograj Singh was hit for 14 runs in the 19th over. Imran took seven and Navneesh five. Two runs came from wide. The sequence was 1, 1, 4, 1, 4, wide, wide and 1.

The bat dominated in the 20th over also. Uttranchal skipper Mohd Imran was in full flow. He punished Amardeep Jaysurya for 24 runs in the last over. The sequence was 4, 4, 4, 2, 6 and 4.

Mohd Imran remained not out on 59 runs of 49 balls. Batting with aggression, Mohd Imran executed six brilliant fours and one huge six. Openers Harshvardhan (27, 6x4s) and Rajat Chawla (18) were the other main scorers for Uttaranchal.

Former Punjab Ranji Trophy all-rounder Harikishan Kali bowled economically to claim three wickets for 22 runs.

Harikishan Kali of Chandigarh was declared the man of the series.

Sandeep Kohli was adjudged the man of the match. Ravi Dhaliwal, Sanjay Mahajan and Yograj Singh received the awards for the best batsman, the best bowler and the best fielder.

Brief scores: Uttaranchal: 144 for 7 in 20 overs (Harshvardhan 27, Rajat Chawala 27, Mohd Imran not out 59, Harikishan Kali 3 for 22, Sanjay Mahajan 1 for 20, Ravi Dhaliwal 1 for 13, Yograj Singh 1 for 19).

Chandigarh: 145 for 3 in 17.3 overs (Prabhjot Singh 13, Sandeep Kohli 64, Sajid Khan retd hurt 21, Harikishan Kali 38, Shekhar 2 for 29, Sunny Rana 1 for 21).

Chandigarh win by seven wickets.

Ind-Swift Managing Director Gopal Munjal was the chief guest and distributed the prizes. President of the Chandigarh Twenty20 Cricket Association and secretary general of Indian Twenty20 National Federation Piyush Rana also distributed prizes.

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