Under heavy clouds,Golden Hawks captain Kuldeep Rawat had no hesitation in asking ITC to bat after winning the toss. Assisting the seamers further,a stiff breeze blew across the St Stephens ground continuously for the first customary power play of 8 overs. Unaffected by the conditions,Somit Poria,the ITC opener took the attack to the opposition by making full use of the fielding restrictions. He scored a 21-ball 46, out of the opening stand of 53 runs,before getting out. Michael Vishal joined a watchful Vishal Tyagi in the middle,and together they set a winning platform for the ITC team,in a stroke-filled 147-run partnership for the second wicket. By the time the duo were dismissed Tyagi was bowled around his legs trying to premeditate a sweep on 87 and Michael followed soon after,on the same score,holing out at square leg the damage was already done. In reply,Golden Hawks lost the plot,with a win almost assured. From 193 for two in the 27th over,they were bowled out for 261. Playing with both caution and disdain,the duo piled on the runs and pressure on the opposition,scoring mainly off the ITC spinners in the middle overs. At 194/3 in the 27th over,Golden Hawks required just more than a run a ball for victory. After scoring 86,Bisht was out to end their 107-run partnership. As Rawat looked set to finish the job,he followed suit soon after on 43 to a comical run out,where he forgot to ground the bat before signalling the pavilion for a change of bat. Unable to recapture the free flowing runs while Bisht and Rawat were at the crease,Golden Hawks lost seven wickets for 67 runs before being bowled out for 261 to lose by 34 runs. ITCs Michael Vishal was adjudged the Man of the Match for his scintillating knock of 87. ITC now take on favourites ONGC in the quarter-finals. Brief scores: ITC 295 for 3 in 40 overs (Michael Vishal 87,Vishal Tyagi 87; Kunal Dalal 1/40); Golden Hawks 261 all out in 39.5 overs (Puneet Bisht 86,Kuldeep Rawat 43; Himanshu Chawla 3/51)
