Gambhir, Sehwag star again to power Delhi to fourth straight win

Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a breezy unbeaten 75 as Delhi cruised to a nine-wicket win over Haryana to record their fourth straight victory in a North Zone leg match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, here today.

Chandigarh: Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a breezy unbeaten 75 as Delhi cruised to a nine-wicket win over Haryana to record their fourth straight victory in a North Zone leg match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, here Friday.

Set a target of 141 runs by Haryana, star pair of Gambhir and Virender Sehwag (49) once again sizzled with the bat for Delhi, putting on a 96-ball 121-run stand for the opening wicket to set the platform for the win here. While Sehwag`s was an unusually sedate knock, Gambhir was at his attacking best. Gambhir`s runs came off 53 balls during which he struck seven boundaries and three sixes. Sehwag, on the other hand, played second fiddle and hit just three fours and one six during his 50-ball knock. Sehwag was the lone Delhi wicket to fall, bowled by right-arm pacer Harshal Patel in the 16th over. After Sehwag`s dismissal, Gambhir and Unmukt Chand (7 not out) ensured the win for Delhi with 15 balls to spare without any further damage. Earlier, Haryana rode on half centuries from opener Avi Barot (51 off 42) and Guntashveer Singh (64 off 49) to post 140 for seven after opting to bat. Apart from Barot and Guntashveer, no other Haryana batsmen could manage double digit scores. The duo scored 103 runs for the second wicket to propel Haryana to the modest score. The lanky Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi with figures of four for nine from his quota of four overs. Meanwhile, in another North Zone leg match Himachal Pradesh defeated Jammu and Kashmir by 17 runs at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali to register their second win in the tournament. Sent in to bat, Himachal could only muster 127 for eight before coming out with am impressive bowling display to bundle out J&K for 110 in 19.3 overs. Rishi Dhawan top-scored for Himachal with 44 off 40 balls. For J&K, left-arm spinner Waseem Raza (3/21) scalped three wickets while skipper Parveez Rasool (2/10) picked up two. Chasing the paltry target, J&K batsmen crumbled in front of the pace trio of Akshay Chauhan (4/16), Rishi Dhawan (2/24) and Vikramjeet Malik (2/28) to slump to their fourth consecutive defeat in the event.