Delhi produced a clinical bowling display to beat Himachal Pradesh by four wickets in a low-scoring match in the North Zone leg of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, here today.
Opting to field after winning the toss, leg-spinner Varun Sood (3/22) starred with the ball as Delhi came up with a disciplined bowling effort to restrict HP to 109 for seven
Seamer Parminder Awana struck early for Delhi as he dismissed opener Sangram Singh in the third ball of the match with HP yet to open its account.
HP batsmen never got going as they lost wickets at regular intervals and were struggling at 43 for four at the half way stage of their innings.
Coming at number five, Rishi Dhawan did try to break the shackles as played a few shots in his 38-run knock off 33 balls that included two fours and a six.
But after the fall of Dhawan's wicket, no other batsmen could provide impetus to HP's innings and could only manage a meagre 109 for seven.
Besides Sood, Awana (1/12), Sumit Narwal (1/11) and Pawan Negi (1/15) also picked up a wicket each for Delhi.
Chasing the low total, Delhi lost Unmukt Chand (4) in the first over. Milind Kumar (23) and Manan Sharma (19) then shared 35 runs for the second wicket to stablise the innings.
Delhi batsmen also found it difficult to score runs on this wicket and lost half of their side in 15 overs with 77 runs on board.
Still requiring 21 off 24 balls for win, Delhi lost wicketkeeper Punit Bisht (13) to be reduced to 89 for six.
But Sumit Narwal (19) hit a six and a four in his blazing 12-ball knock to take Delhi home with 10 balls to spare.
For HP, Vikramjeet Malik took three wickets for 20 runs from his four overs.
Brief Score:
Himachal Pradesh - 109 for seven in 20 overs (Rishi Dhawan 38, Paras Dogra 25; Varun Sood 3/22)
Delhi - 110 for six in 18.2 overs (Milind Kumar 23, Sumit Narwal 19 not out; Vikramjeet Malik 3/22).
