A late onslaught from Harsh Tyagi and Kavya Gupta powered East Delhi Riders to a four-wicket victory over North Delhi Strikers in a rain-shortened semifinal of the Adani Delhi Premier League T20 at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday. East Delhi Riders will now face the winners of the second semifinal between South Delhi Superstarz and Purani Dilli 6 in the summit clash on Sunday.
A one-and-a-half-hour delay reduced the game to 18 overs per side, and North Delhi Strikers put up 173/4. In reply, East Delhi Riders chased down the target in 17.3 overs, courtesy of Harsh Tyagi’s unbeaten 43 off 17.
East Delhi Riders began their chase of 174 runs at a blistering pace. Anuj Rawat, after a promising start, was dismissed for 18 off 9 in the second over. Sujal Singh (13 off 11) followed him back to the pavilion in the fifth over, leaving East Delhi Riders at 54/2 by the end of the Powerplay. Siddhartha Solanki, who dismissed Singh, went on to claim two more wickets in the following overs. He removed skipper Himmat Singh (27 off 18) and Hardik Sharma (14 off 13) in quick succession to reduce East Delhi Riders to 91/4 after 10 overs.
Suyash Sharma then dismissed Pranav Pant (6 off 9), leaving East Delhi Riders with a challenging equation of 71 runs needed from 36 balls. Mayank Rawat (18 off 13) was the next to fall as Pranshu Vijayran grabbed his second wicket of the match, putting North Delhi Strikers in a commanding position.
However, Harsh Tyagi and Impact Sub Kavya Gupta (25 off 15) fought back in the following overs. They smashed as many as 22 runs in Solanki’s fourth over to reduce the equation to 21 needed off the 12 balls. The duo eventually chased down the target with three balls to spare, taking their team to the final of the inaugural edition of the DPLT20.
Earlier in the contest, openers Sarthak Ranjan and Vaibhav Kandpal gave North Delhi Strikers a flying start, smashing 58 runs in the five-over Powerplay.
Mayank Rawat provided a much-needed breakthrough for East Delhi Riders by dismissing Ranjan (30 off 23) in the seventh over. Harsh Tyagi then grabbed two quick wickets in the following overs, with North Delhi Strikers at 86/3 after 10 overs. Tyagi removed Yash Dabas (2 off 5) and Kandpal (39 off 26).
North Delhi Strikers crossed the 100-run mark in 11.4 overs, with Yajash Sharma scoring at a rapid pace. His quickfire 34 off 16 balls ended in the 13th over.
Vaibhav Rawal (29 off 20) and Yash Bhatia (32 off 18) then combined to push North Delhi Strikers past the 150-run mark in 16.1 overs. Their 58-run partnership off 31 balls helped North Delhi Strikers post 173/4 in their allotted 18 overs.
Brief scores:
North Delhi Strikers 173/4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Kandpal 39, Yajash Sharma 34; Harsh Tyagi 2-17) lost to East Delhi Riders 177/6 in 17.3 overs (Harsh Tyagi 43*, Himmat Singh 27, Siddhartha Solanki 3-40) by four wickets.
