Atapattu propels Jets to semis, Tigers too advance

Sri Lankan Maravan Atapattu’s unbeaten 64 off 43 balls led Delhi Jets to a six-wicket victory over Chennai Superstars in the ICL Twenty20 Championship at the Tau Devi Lal stadium here today.

Sri Lankan Maravan Atapattu’s unbeaten 64 off 43 balls led Delhi Jets to a six-wicket victory over Chennai Superstars in the ICL Twenty20 Championship at the Tau Devi Lal stadium here today.

The victory put Jets in the semi-finals. Superstars, however, have already made it to the last-four stage, as did the Chandigarh Lions. Kolkata Tigers today completed the semi-final line-up, defeating Inzamam-ul-Haq’s Hyderabad Heroes by 53 runs.

The Superstars set Jets a modest 175-run target (they lost six wickets in the process), after being put into bat by the Delhi team. Opener Ian Harvey and G Vignesh started at a brisk pace, Harvey scoring 30 runs off 20 before being run out, and Vignesh helping out with 18 off 12 balls. Chris Read (37) and Harvey (30) were the top scorers.

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The Delhi Jets’ chase was started by Taufiq Umar (20) and Monish Mishra (37), before skipper Atapattu came in. He smashed 6 fours and 2 sixes as Jets raced to victory in 192 overs.

For Kolkata Tigers, 18-year-old medium pacer from Assam, Sujay Tarafdar and South African speedster Nantie Hayward bowled devastating opening spells tonight. Defending a total of 168, the Tigers pace battery struck in the very first over when Hayward had Heroes wicketkeeper-opener Ibrahim Khaleel bowled for 1.

However, it was the wickets of opener P Shashank Nag (2), Nicky Boje (4) and Chris Harris (0) by Man of the Match Tarafdar in the second over of the innings which tilted the scales in Tigers’ favour, with the scoreboard reading 7/4.

Though Inzamam (13) tried to show some resistance, Hayward struck again, trapping him lbw. Even a valiant fightback by all-rounders Abdul Razzaq (37) and Azhar Mahmood (25) could not prevent the inevitable. Both were sent packing by Lance Klusener.

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Tigers, who were put in to bat, had former England batsman Darren Maddy scoring a run-a-ball 32. Skipper Craig Macmillan struck a scintillating 50, studded with four sixes.

Summarised scores

•Chennai Superstars: 174/6 (Chris Read 37, Ian Harvey 30, R Satish 29, Ali Murtaza 2 for 24) lost to Delhi Jets: 178 for 4 in 19.2 overs (Marvan Atapattu 64 n.o, Mohnish Mishra 37, T. Kumaran 4 for 31)

•Hyderabad Heroes: 115 (Abdul Razzak 37l; S Tarafdar 3/20, L Klusener 3/26) lost to Kolkata Tigers 168/5 (Darren Maddy 32, Abhisekh jhunjhunwala 33, Craig McMillan 50)

Semi-final line-ups

•Kolkata Tigers versus Chennai Superstars

•Chandigarh Lions versus Delhi Jets

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