Last year’s runners-up Sporting Cricket Club edged past Rajasthan Cricket Association, Jaipur, by nine runs to secure a semi-final berth in the 40th edition of the all-India Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial cricket tournament in the capital on Monday.
In the first quarter-final of the tournament which was played at the St. Stephen’s College ground, Sporting were put into bat by rival skipper Puneet Yadav.
Vartik Tihara (36) and Rahul Tyagi (38) gave them a decent start and a fine knock of 62 by Rajesh Sharma later saw SCC post a competitive 224/8 in 40 overs.
Gurvinder Singh (26 not out) finished the innings with a flourish scoring four boundaries in the final four deliveries of the innings.
Left-arm spinner Mohd Arif (2/58) was the most successful bowler for RCA.
RCA too began on a solid note with openers Ankit Lamba (33) and Saurabh Chauhan (51) raising 74. Rajesh Bishnoi chipped in with a handy knock of 61.
Despite that, the game slipped away from RCA as they failed to knock off the last 22 runs in the final two overs, finishing their innings at 215/7. Sporting’s Sharma was named the man of the match.
Scores: Sporting Cricket Club 224/8 In 40 overs (Rajesh Sharma 62, Vartik Tihara 36, Rahul Tyagi 38, Pardeep Sangwan 29; Rituraj Singh 1/42, Mohd Arif 2/58) bt Rajasthan Cricket Association 215/7 in 40 overs (Saurabh Chauhan 51, Ankit Lamba 33, Rajesh Bishnoi 61; Pardeep Sangwan 1/41, Rohit Saini 2/32, Amit Mishra 1/52)