Hindustan Times trounce Times of India in final again
LUCKNOW:Riding on an explosive half century by Abhinav Shukla and his 117 runs partnership with Shishir Pandey, favourites Hindustan Times crushed archrivals Times of India for a mammoth 76-run victory in the final of POCT Group Media Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament, here on Tuesday.
This is the sixth time when Hindustan Times defeated Times of India in as many encounters.
Hindustan Times made a steady start batting first after winning the toss. However, they lost the openers, Ashish Rajput and Sharad Deep, in sixth and eighth over, respectively.
Despite the jolts, HT stepped on the accelerator as Shishir Pandey and Abhinav Shukla forged their partnership. Pandey anchored the innings at one end, while Shukla hit an explosive 65 runs off just 35 balls.
After Shishir Pandey was bowled by Ranvijay Singh, skipper Rohit K Singh joined the run fest, hitting two boundaries to score 13 off seven balls to put up a huge total of 183 runs.
In the run chase, Times of India could not have hoped for a worse start, as they lost their opener, Saurabh Bakshi, stumped by keeper Sharad Deep off the very first ball. Captain Anish Oberoi stitched a 25-run second wicket partnership before the team was jolted again, losing Rishi Singh Sengar, who was bowled by Abhinav Shukla in the fifth over.
Next batsman Abbas Rizvi pushed the total forward before being caught at mid on at a personal total of 19 runs in the 11th over.
Two successive wickets in the next over of Shishir Pandey all but snuffed out the run chase of Times of India. Anil Mishra was clean bowled, while Rishi Gandhi was caught LBW off successive deliveries.
Skipper Anish Oberoi who was holding up one end gave up under the pressure of run rate and was bowled while attempting to charge a straight drive.
Oberoi scored 33 off 39 deliveries, the maximum from his side. Praveen Rai and Pranchal stayed on the wicket till the last ball but could only take the score to 107 in 20 overs.
Chief guest of the event director general of police OP Singh felicitated the players. Abhinav Shukla was adjudged the Man of the Match. Shishir Pandey was declared Man of the Series, Manish Singh who snared 10 wickets in three games was awarded Bowler of the Series, while Sharad Deep was given the award for Best Wicketkeeper.
ABHINAV SHUKLA WAS ADJUDGED THE MAN OF THE MATCH. SHISHIR PANDEY WAS DECLARED MAN OF THE SERIES, WHILE MANISH SINGH WAS AWARDED BOWLER OF THE SERIES,