New Delhi: Delhi eased their way into the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after beating Railways by seven wickets in a quarterfinal match.
Delhi will play Mumbai in the semi-final slated on March 10.
Chasing a modest target of 176, Delhi clinched the issue in 37.4 overs losing only three wickets, with Shikhar Dhawan scoring 69.
Gautam Gambhir, who wanted to get a bit of match practice, remained unbeaten on 34 off 57 balls, hitting three boundaries in the process. He wasn`t exactly fluent which may have been something to do with the adjustment he had to make on the Kotla track after playing on bouncier Australian wickets.
Rajat Bhatia won an important toss and the quartet of Parvinder Awana (2/20), Pawan Suyal (2/36), Rajat Bhatia (3/30) and Pradeep Sangwan (2/40) troubled the opposition with pace and seam movement.
Shivakant Shukla (1), Amit Paunikar (12), Faiz Fazal (12), Sanjay Bangar (0), Mahesh Rawat (22), Rajesh Bishnoi (4) were back in pavilion as Railways were tottering at 56 for six.
However Ashish Yadav (59, 79 balls, 5x4, 1x6) and Dhiran Salvi (26, 43 balls, 3x4) stemmed the rot, adding 52 runs for the seventh wicket as they crossed 100-run mark. Krishna Kant Upadhyay (11) and Shailender Gehlot (12) also chipped in with a few runs, giving the total a semblance of respectability.
The score of 175 certainly wasn`t going to be enough.
Youngster Mohit Sharma (36, 64 balls, 4x4) and Shikhar Dhawan (69, 8x4, 1x6) added 97 runs for the first wicket to seal the issue. The pitch eased out considerably in the second session as Delhi made it to the last four without much fuss.
Brief Scores: Railways 175 in 49.1 overs (Ashish Yadav 59, Dhiran Salvi 26, Rajat Bhatia 3/30, P Awana 2/20).
Delhi 178/3 in 37.4 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 69, Mohit Sharma 36, Gautam Gambhir 34). Delhi won by 7 wkts.
Semi-final line-up: March 10: Mumbai vs Delhi (Feroz Shah Kotla); Bengal vs Punjab (Services Ground, Palam).
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 07, 2012, 22:41