In form Minerva to play FCI Delhi in final

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 14 

Minerva Academy will face FCI Delhi in the 24th All India JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament final at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 26, here, on Friday.   

In the semifinals, Minerva registered a 14-run win against BTM Warriors in a rain-truncated match at the Sector 26 ground, while FCI Delhi beat CAG Delhi by seven wickets at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula.  

Put in to bat, Minerva Cricket Academy had a disastrous start to their innings as they slumped to 25/4 in 15 overs with Anil Kumar (1), Gaurav Puri (4), Jeevanjot Singh (5) and Arush Sabharwal (1) walking back to the hut in quick succession. 

Gurkeerat Singh Maan and Raghav Sharma added 49 runs for the fifth wicket before the latter was dismissed by Narinder on 29. 

With the side struggling at 74/5, it was left to Mann and wicketkeeper-batsman Abhishek Gupta to provide some respectability to the Minerva total. The duo batted sensibly and stretched the total to 152 before Varun Khanna ended the 78-run partnership between the two. Gupta was out after making 20 runs off 33 balls.

Mann was the eighth man to fall in the Minerva innings. He was trapped in front by Bhagmender on 89. His 74-ball stay in the middle was studded with nine boundaries and two sixes. 

Minerva eventually folded up their innings on 172 in 39.2 overs. 

Vaibhav Arora (2/28), Narinder (2/35) and Bhagmender (2/39) claimed two wickets each for Warriors, while Varun Khanna (1/23) and Sonu Rathi (1/23) bagged a wicket each.

With the match reduced to 40 overs a side due to frequent rain interruptions during the Minerva innings, Warriors were set a revised target of 177.  

Warriors started with a flourish, scoring 36 runs in 5.3 overs before Pawan Chandel was castled by Gurvinder Bhullar on 21. Rohan Marwaha was cleaned up by Sumit Sharma on 22 before the rain stopped the play once again. 

After the interruption, the target was re-revised to 156 runs off 32 overs. 

Medium pacer Yadwinder in an inspired spell removed Maninder (4), Sharad Lumba (5) and Bhagmender (8) 

in quick succession to reduce Warriors to 74/5 in 15.5 overs. Sonu Rathi did not last long either. He was dismissed on 16. 

With Warriors reeling on 102/6 in 22 overs, another spell of rain brought an early end to the match. Minerva won the match by 14 runs on the basis of VJD method. 

Yadwinder was the most effective bowler for Minerva, claiming 4/31. Gurvinder Bhullar (1/16) and Sumit Sharma (1/20) took a wicket apiece.

FCI edge past CAG        

At Tau Devi Lal Stadium, FCI Delhi restricted CAG Delhi 165/7 after the match was reduced to 33 overs a side due to rain.  

Mohit Handa made an unbeaten 61, while Amit Thakur hit a 42-ball 43. Amit Prashar added 24 runs to the total. 

Set a revised target of 164 runs in 33 overs, FCI lost opener Chetan Sharma (3) on 20 runs. He was caught by A Vashisht off Jagjit Singh in the fifth over. 

Ayush Bhardwaj then in company of Umang Sharma put on 51 runs for the second wicket. The duo was separated when Sharma was caught by wicketkeeper Mohit Handa off Vashist on 29. 

Vashist struck again, removing Bhardwaj on 37 to reduce FCI to 72/3. Rajinder Bisht (25 not out) and Manish Sehrawat (15 not out) took the FCI total to 111 before the rain forced another interruption.

When the match resumed, FCI were given a target of 110 in 20 over, which the side had already achieved.  

The winner will get a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, while the runners-up will be richer Rs 1 lakh.