Income Tax, Route Mobile and CAG to make the cut

Defending champions D.Y. Patil Red riding on Krunal Pandya all-round show beat Jain Irrigation in the quarter-final of the 19th D.Y. Patil T20 Cup at the D.Y. Patil Stadium.

Asked to bat DY Patil Red were off to a flyer as Siddharth Patidar (33) and Priyam Garg (32) scored 67 runs for the first wicket inside seven overs, before the two were dismissed by Prashant Solanki and Madhav Tiwari respectively in space of three balls without any further addition to the scoreboard. Talented youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi (1) too was snapped by Tiwari soon after. Experienced campaigners Aman Khan and Krunal Pandya staged a fine recovery thereafter with brisk 71 runs alliance for the fourth wicket, before the former was dismissed by Sairaj Patil in the 15th over of the innings, not before scoring a quick fire 25-ball 48  laced with six boundaries and two sixes. Pandya unbeaten on 26 at this stage soon took the lead role thereafter and took special liking for left arm pacer Mohd. Arshad Khan. The southpaw smashed two sixes and a boundary in the very next over and completed a well deserved fifty with a six over long-on of another left arm pacer Royston Dias, his first in the tournament this season. Pandya however fell soon while attempting to cut a rising short ball of Mohd. Arshad went on 52 after having added 51 runs for the fifth wicket with Abdul Samad (14) who was run-out in the final ball of the innings as D Y Patil Red scored 202 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs.

Chasing Jain Irrigation lost Suved Parkar (23), wicket keeper batter Hardik Tamore (4) and Pragnesh Kanpillewar (6), in quick succession in the power play itself after the former batter along with skipper Jay Bista had added 40 runs for the first wicket, with Krunal Pandya accounting for two of those. Left arm spinner Saumya Pandey, who was part of the India U-19 World cup 2024 team took the crucial wicket Bista (32) stumped by Jitesh Sharma soon after the half way stage. Jain Irrigation who were 101 for 5 at this stage, never recovered in the face of a hostile spell by medium pacer Puneet Datey (4/36), despite Sairaj Patil (35) heroics. Pandya (3/31) however plotted his downfall by having him caught behind in the 19th over to set up DY Patil Red entry into the last four stages.

Earlier, last edition's finalist Reliance 1 crashed out of the tournament as they lost to Income Tax by 34 runs while chasing a mammoth target of 224. Reliance skipper Tilak Varma who played a key role in India vs England T20I series scored a valiant 82 off 43 balls on a losing cause. Earlier Pramod Chandila (99) narrowly missed out a well deserved century for the Tax men while Lalit Yadav once again came good with yet another all- round performance (42 n.o. and 2/30) on a winning cause.

In another quarter-final at the DY Patil University Ground, ex Indian player Mayank Agarwal (68: 32b, 7x4, 4x6) starred for Route Mobile as they beat Indian Navy by six wickets, to ensure his team’s unbeaten record in the tourney.

In the afternoon, Sanvir Singh unbeaten 52-ball ton laced with seven boundaries and eight sixes saw his team CAG defeat former champions BPCL by three wickets with two balls to spare while chasing a target of 198.

Needing 15 runs in the final over the batting all-rounder Sanvir smashed three consecutive sixes off Bhavin Thakkar (2/33) in the final over of the innings, in the company of J Suchith J who in the previous over bowled by Pratik Mishra had hit two boundaries and one six during his 10-ball unbeaten knock off 19.

Route Mobile will take on Income Tax in the first semi-final at the DY Patil University Ground on Wednesday, while DY Patil Red will next log heads with CAG in the other semis at the DY Patil Stadium on the same day.

Brief Scores (Quarter-finals):

At D.Y. Patil University Ground, Nerul

Indian Navy - 172/8 in 20 overs (Anshul Gupta 42 (26b: 4x4s, 1x6), Mohit Ahlawat 33 (26b:2x4s,2x6s); Shafeequddin 3/25, Shams Mulani  1/17,Sylvester Dsouza 1/17) lost to Route Mobile - 174/4 in 18 overs (Mayank Agarwal 68 (32b: 7x5s,      4x6s), Sagar Chabria 44 (39b: 1x4, 1x6); Arun 3/18, Mohit Rathee 1/127) by six wickets and 12 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Mayank Agarwal (Route Mobile); BPCL - 197/7 in 20 overs (Harshal Jadhav 82 n.o.( 46b: 7x4s, 4x6s), Anish Chaudhary 34 (21b: 4x4s, 1x6), Yash Gadia 27 (19b: 4x4s, 1x6); J Suchith 3/37, Mukesh Kumar 2/28) lost to CAG - 202/7 in 19.4 overs (Sanvir Singh 105 n.o.( 53b: 7x4s, 8x6s), Varun Lavande 46 (23b: 4x4s, 3x6s); Sachin Gupta 2/18, Bhavya Atrey 2/33, Bhavin Thakkar 2/33) by three wickets and three balls to spare. Player of the Match: Sanvir Singh (CAG).

At D.Y. Patil Stadium, NerulIncome Tax - 223/7 in 20 overs (Pramod Chandila 99 (57b: 16x4s, 2x6s), Lalit Yadav 42* (19b: 4x4s, 2x6s); Deepak Chahar 2/26, PSN Raju 2/39) bt Reliance 1 - 189/7 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 82 (43b: 8x4s, 4x6s), Abhay Choudhary 50 (29b: 6x4s, 1x6); Lalit Yadav 2/30, Atharva Ankolekar 2/33, Tanush Kotian 2/33) by 34 runs. Player of the Match: Pramod Chandila (Income Tax);  DY Patil Red - 202/6 in 20 overs (Krunal Pandya 52 (31b: 4x4s, 3x6s), Aman Khan 48 (25b: 6x4s, 2x6s), Siddharth Patidar 33 (24b: 6x4s), Priyam Garg 32 (19b: 4x4s,1x6); Madhav Tiwari 2/18, Sairaj Patil 1/31, Mohd. Arshad Khan 1/57) bt Jain Irrigation - 172 all out in 18.1 overs (Jay Bista 47 (32b: 3x4s, 2x6s), Sairaj Patil 35 (25b: 4x4s), Suved Parkar 23 (14b: 2x4s, 2x6s); Puneet Datey 4/38, Krunal Pandya 3/31, Saumya Pandey 2/24) by 30 runs. Player of the Match: Krunal Pandya (D.Y. Patil Red).

Photo Cover: Income Tax upstaged former champions Reliance 1 to book a place in the semis

Photo Above: Reigning champions DY Patil Red outplayed Jain Irrigation by 30  runs in the quarter-final round of the 19th DY Patil T20 Cup