Collage surprise IA, enter final

But today they failed to combine as a well-knit team and paid the penalty.

The Roshanara track has favoured batsmen so far in the tournament. Yet, Airlines decided to put the opposition in first and preferred to chase the target.

Airlines’ gamble bore fruits initially as Collage lost three wickets for 70 runs in 11 overs. But an enterprising 119-run stand for the fourth wicket between opener Raju Sharma and skipper Sumeet Dogra tilted the scale in favour of Collage Group.

In the space of 20 overs, the two batsmen took the game away from Airlines by their positive approach.

Raju Sharma, a regular member of the Jammu and Kashmir Ranji Trophy team, played a gallant knock to frustrate the Airlines attack, which included Ranji players Dodda Ganesh, Vineet Jain, Abdul Qayoom, Sonu Sharma and Nikhil Chopra.

Sharma remained unbeaten with 100 which included a six and nine boundaries and came off 109 deliveries.

Dogra, who has been having a good tournament so far, helped himself to a six and five fours in his 63-ball knock of 64. Dodda Ganesh was punished for 33 runs in his four overs. Vineet Jain, Abdul Qayoom, Sonu Sharma, Nikhil Chopra and Subhash Chaudhary claimed a wicket each.

The way Dahiya and Arun Kumar began the reply for Airlines, it seemed they were in a hurry to catch the next flight. Runs flowed from their bats as the run-rate touched the 10 per over mark by the end of the seventh over. But with the dismissal of the two openers, Collage Group wrested the initiative.

Dahiya’s 32-ball knock of 39 contained eight boundaries while Arun Kumar had five fours in his 20-ball score of 24.

With the introduction of spinners Navdeep Singh (from Punjab who has been named in the North Zone Deodhar squad), Mahesh Bhatti and Sumeet Dogra, not only the run-rate dropped but Airlines also lost wickets at regular intervals.

Shafiq Khan’s cameo knock of 32 (1×6, 1×4, 40 balls) ended when he cut Dogra onto his wicket.

Nikhil Chopra tried to give some respectability to the Airlines challenge with a strokeful 50 (1×6, 3×4, 47b). But he was dismissed last, trying to push the score along.

The second semifinal, between Roshanara Club and Bright Club will be played on Friday.

The final will be played on Saturday.

Brief Scores

Collage Group: 248 for 6 in 40 overs (Raju Sharma 100 not out, Manav Mehra 22, Sumeet Dogra 64, Amit Malik 21, Vineet Jain 1 for 36, Abdul Qayoom 1 for 44, Sonu Sharma 1 for 36, Nikhil Chopra 1 for 48, Subhash Chaudhary 1 for 49).

Indian Airlines: 222 all out in 38.4 overs (Vijay Dahiya 39, J Arun Kumar 24, Ashok Singh 22, Shafiq Khan 32, Nikhil Chopra 50, Navdeep Singh 3 for 25, Mahesh Bhatti 2 for 42, Sumeet Dogra 3 for 52).

Man of the match: Raju Sharma (Collage Group).