Aj in Q-F, Hindustan post first win

Patna, February 3
Hindustan recorded their first win defeating Channels XI by 53 runs in a pool D league match of the 4th Airtel Media Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Tuesday.

Batting first Hindustan scored 143 for the loss of five wickets off 20 overs and then restricted their rivals at 90 all out.

In the same pool last years runners-up Aj booked their berth in the quarter-finals defeating ETV, Bihar by six wickets. Aj have collected four points from two matches thus far.

Batting first ETV made 98 runs for the loss of eight wickets off 20 overs. Vinayak (11) and Ashish (20) could reach the double figures for ETV against steady and sturdy bowling attack of Aj spearheaded by Vicky Raj who claimed four wickets for 16 runs. Maonj too bowled well to get three wickets for 11 runs.

In reply, Aj raced to the target losing four wickets on the way. Manoj played a diligent knock of 48 not with four hits to the fence. For his envious batting and bowling performance, Manoj was later adjudged man of the match.

Hindustan batsmen, who looked quite sluggish in their first match against Aj, found their forms in the vital match against Channels XI. Dilip Mishra, who is the main stay of Hindustan batting line up, rose to the occasion making a quick-fire half-century (61, 9x4, 1x6). Purushottam scored 25 runs.

RP Gupta bagged two wickets for 18 runs while Prakash Singh took one wicket for 27 runs.

In reply, Channels XI failed to chase the target after the fall of Prakash Singh, who scored 22 runs. Channels Xi were all out for 90 runs off 16.4 overs. Purushottam, Rahul, Jai Prakash and Arun Pratap all took two wickets each for Hindustan.

Brief scores:
Hindustan: 143 for five off 20 overs (Dilip mishra 61, Purushottam 25, Mukesh 10, Arun Prtap 12 not out, Abhishek 13 not out, RP Gupta 2 for 18, Prakash singh 1 for 27).
Channels XI: 90 all out off 16.4 overs (Prakash Singh 22, RP Gupta 15, Purushottam 2 for 9, Rahul 2 for 30, Jai Prakash 2 for 16, Arun Pratap 2 for 11, Vijay 1 for 5).

ETV, Bihar: 98 for 8 off 20 overs (Vinayak 11, Ashish 20 not out, Vicky raj 4 for 16, Manoj 3 for 11, Pramod singh 1 for 5).
Aj: 102 for four off 19.1 overs (Manoj Kumar 48 not out, Pramod Singh 13 not out, Surajdev 11, Alok 2 for 17, Rajesh 1 for 19, Farman 1 for 29).