ISL: Northeast United stage stellar comeback to beat Chennaiyin 4-3 Delhi pull off thriller against Jharkhand to ENTER VIJAY HAZARE FINAL
CHENNAI: An inspired Northeast United FC bounced back from 1-3 down to beat Chennaiyin FC 4-3 in an Indian Super League match here Thursday, handing the defending champions their third straight defeat of the season.
Bartholomew Ogbeche was the star for the Highlanders with a stupendous hattrick, which helped the visitors neutralise Chennaiyin FC'S advantage.
NEU FC also went top of the standings with seven points following their second win from three games while CFC
languishes at the bottom after
losses to Bengaluru FC, FC Goa and the team from north-east.
Rowlin Borges scored the winning goal in the 54th minute after the two teams had ended the first half at 3-3.
After a dramatic first half which saw six goals being scored, the second saw NEU FC doing well to hold on to the
lead after Borges' own goal put Chennaiyin ahead.
The game got off to a fast start with both teams looking to seize the early advantage. Northeast FC footballer Bartholomew Ogbeche hits a goal against Chennaiyin during the 5th season of ISL 2018, in Chennai, Thursday
The home team, with the influential Jeje Lalpheklua missing out on the starting XI, tested the rival defence and a cor-
ner taken by Isaac which was headed in by Borges into his own goal. Thoi Singh scored his first goal for Chennaiyin FC, in
the 15th minute, after latching on to a pass from Isaac as the host doubled the lead. NEU FC bounced back through skipper Ogbeche. He scored his first in the 29th minute, a typical poacher's goal. Federico Gallego's shot was blocked from the left and Eli Sabia's attempt to clear the ball failed and Ogbeche slid it past Karanjit Singh.
Three minutes later, the home side increased the lead to 3-1 as Thoi Singh added to his tally after he was set up brilliantly from the left by Raphael Augusto.
NEU FC hit back when Ogbeche scored in the 37th minute to reduce the margin to 2-3.
The visitors levelled the game two minutes later as the Nigerian beat the CFC goalie with a perfectly timed shot.
Chennaiyin kept pushing for the equaliser but were thwarted by an alert NEU FC defence. Coach John Gregory brought in Jeje in the last 10 minutes and he infused some urgency into the proceedings in tandem with experienced Augusto and Salom but couldn't find the net. The home side had its chances but could not make most of it and was left pondering what could have been even as NEU FC improved their record against CFC with a memorable performance. Delhi's Pravin Negi plays a shot against Jharkhand during the 2nd semifinal match of Vijay Hazare Trophy at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Thursday. Delhi won the match by 2 wickets
BENGALURU: Pawan Negi, batting at number nine, scored an unbeaten 39 under intense pressure, helping Delhi pull-off a thrilling two-wicket win over Jharkhand in the second semifinal of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Thursday.
Chasing 200, Delhi were down and out at 149 for eight in the 38th over before Negi and Navdeep Saini (13 not out off 38) batted for almost 12 overs, sharing a match-winning 51-run stand for the ninth wicket.
Pacer Saini was deservingly named man of the match as he gave the much needed support to Negi in the tense run chase after taking four wickets that
limited Jharkhand to 199 all out in 48.5 overs.
Delhi, who have won the tournament once, meet the mighty Mumbai in the final on Saturday.
With his stellar effort, Negi has attracted attention after a
long time, having slipped off the radar after bagging a mil
lion dollar IPL deal in 2016. The southpaw, who had also played a T20 for India in the same year, collected five fours and a six in his gritty knock.
Unmukt Chand, who made 17 off 13 balls, began the chase with a flurry of boundaries before falling to pacer Varun Aaron, driving the ball straight to Anand Singh at cover-point. In-form captain Gautam Gambhir (27), Dhruv Shorey (15) and Nitish Rana (39), all got starts but none could convert them into a big score.
Jharkahnd medium pacer Anand Singh wreaked havoc by claiming three wickets as Delhi slumped from 51 for one to 87 for four.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem joined the party by bagging two wickets as Delhi collapsed to 123 for five to 149 for eight, putting Jharkhand on the verge of a famous win before Negi spoiled their party.
Sent into bat, Virat Singh's half century helped Jharkhand reach a fighting total.
He stitched 55 and 44 runs partnerships with Nadeem (29) and Rahul Shukla (11) for seventh and ninth wicket.
At one stage, Jharkhand were struggling at 85 for six, with Navdeep Saini and Kulwant Khejroliya doing the damage. Saini bagged four wickets and Khejrolia and medium pacer Pranshu Vijayran claimed two each. Saini took the wickets of Ishan Kishan (0), Saurabh Tiwary (6), Kumar Deobrat (3), while Khejrolia removed Anand Singh (36) and Shasheem Sanjay Rathour (5).
BRIEF SCORES: Delhi 200/8 (Pawan Negi 39*; Nitish Rana 39; Anand Singh 3/39) beat Jharkhand 199 (Virat Singh 71, Shahbaz Nadeem 29; Navdeep Saini 4/30) by two wickets.