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Medium-pacer Joginder Sharma is known for his last-over heroics, most famously when Pakistan failed to score 13 off the last over of the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 at the Wanderers in 2007. Misbah-ul-Haq was the last wicket to fall when S Sreesanth held onto a catch after running in from fine leg. Joginder had conceded just six runs in that pressure-cooker situation.
On Sunday, another chapter, albeit on a much smaller stage, was added to Sharma's last ball tales. But this time Delhi's Pradeep Sangwan, with four needed off the last ball, hit a six to give his team a thrilling three-wicket win over Haryana.
It was a moment that Sangwan will cherish, while Sharma will want to quickly forget this last over he bowled on Sunday. Delhi needed 12 to win when Sharma started the last over of this North Zone Twenty20 match. Delhi have now won all their four games. Sangwan flicked a full toss over the mid-wicket area to find the six and trigger celebrations at the Palam ground. Delhi have more or less booked their place in the knockout-stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, barring a huge loss against Services on Monday.
The win was marked by Sangwan's heroics with the bat and was well supported by Yogesh Nagar's cameo of 22 from 13 balls towards the end. Up the order, it was the workman-like efforts of opener Chetan Sharma and No.3 Rajat Bhatia, both of whom scored 39, that helped Delhi remain alive in chase of Haryana's 146.
The left-arm spin of Hemang Badani stemmed the initial flow of runs with two crucial wickets, while skipper Amit Mishra bowled a six-run over in the 17th to cap off his four-over spell with two wickets. With 23 required off the final two overs, the ball was thrown towards Sanjay Badhwar. The left-arm seamer gave away 11 runs in the second-last over of the match.
Haryana's No.3, Sunny Singh, made full use of three reprieves to score 74 from 48 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes. He figured in two big partnerships first with opener Mukul Dagar worth 61 off 46 balls and then for the fourth wicket with Dhruv Singh (45 from 33) as Delhi, playing one bowler short after Sumit Narwal fell ill, struggled to contain the opposition.
At the Palam II ground, Services pulled off an unlikely win against Punjab when their No.9 and No.10 batsmen scored 46 off the final three overs to beat Punjab by two wickets and a ball to spare.
Punjab skipper Karan Goel perhaps paid the price for under-bowling his main seamers Manpreet Gony and Jaskaran Singh. Gony bowled two overs, while Jaskaran delivered just 1.5 overs. Goel's off-spin accounted for 18 runs in the 18th over while left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma, looking for his fifth wicket, conceded 20 in the penultimate over of the innings. In the final game of the day, Himachal won their first match, a 56-run victory over Jammu & Kashmir.
Brief scores: Haryana 146/6 in 20 overs (Sunny Singh 74, Mukul Dagar 35, Dhruv Singh 19) vs Delhi 149/7 in 20 overs (Chetan Sharma 39, Rajat Bhatia 39, Yogesh Nagar 22; Amit Mishra 2/27, Hemang Badani 2/34)
Punjab 133 all out in 20 overs (Sarul Kanwar 49, Manpreet Gony 29; Amrinder Singh 5/21, Amit Kumar 3/11, Yashpal Singh 2/14) vs Services 134/8 in 19.5 overs (Ritesh Negi 40, Narender Kumar 24; Bipul Sharma 4/28, Navdeep 2/20)
Himachal 147/4 in 20 overs (Sangram Singh 57, Manvinder Bisla 57; Samiullah Beig 3/22) vs Jammu & Kashmir 91/7 in 20 overs (Ian Dev Singh 37; Kunal Dewan 2/8, Ashok Thakur 2/9).
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