Virender Sehwag’s entertaining 39 and Vaibhav Rawal’s whirlwind 31 not out helped Delhi outplay Punjab by six wickets to register their second consecutive win in the North Zone leg of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy, here on Wednesday. Chasing 160 for a win at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the Delhi batsmen put up a concerted effort to achieve the target with three balls to spare. Sehwag was the top-scorer with his 35-ball knock, including three fours and three sixes, but was finally done in by a caught and bowled effort from opposition skipper Harbhajan Singh (1/25). Opener Unmukt Chand contributed a 17-ball 20 as captain Gautam Gambhir (4) once again failed to get going. Sehwag and Nitish Rana (35) then stitched a 42-run third wicket partnership to get behind the chase. But after the two batsmen departed, Delhi were in some trouble before an unbeaten 48-run fifth wicket stand between Milind Kumar (21 not out) and Rawal (31 not out, 13 balls, 2x4, 2x6) gave the team another four points. Punjab pace spearhead Brainder Sran, who accounted for Chand and Gambhir, bagged two wickets but could not help Punjab continue their winning run after they had beaten Haryana in their first game. Earlier put into bat, Punjab rode on Gurkeerat Singh’s 35-ball 42 and Gurinder Singh’s unbeaten 34 to post 159/7. Yuvraj Singh also contributed 25 runs before falling to medium-pacer Pranshu Vijayran, who bagged three wickets. Vikas Tokas and left-arm spinner Manan Sharma picked up two wickets each. Source: The Asian Age, Image: http://photobucket.com/
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