Pune: Number 4 Rahul Garg shared two crucial partnerships for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in his unbeaten knock of 67 as the IT major stormed into the semifinals with a 22-run win over Persistent in the fourth quarterfinal of the FLAME University Corporate Cricket T20 League 2018 managed by Triumph Events at the FLAME University Campus in Lavale on Sunday.
Last year’s runners-up TCS’s decision to bat first seemed to backfire when Persistent reduced them to 19 for 2 in the fourth over that brought Gard and Shantanu Nadkarni together and the two added 49 runs for the third wicket before Abhijeet Sawant caught and bowled Nadkarni (15--17b, 1x4).
But Garg kept his cool and even though fourth wicket fell, he and No 6 batsman Soumya Mohanty (33 not out--22b, 2x4, 1x6) made sure TCS cross the 100-run mark. The two added 69 runs for the fifth wicket as TCS almost knocked the doors of 150-run mark.
Persistent was never in sight of the target as Jagannath Gaddiae and Gaurav Singh snapped two wickets each as TCS left Persistent stuttering. Wickets fell at regular intervals helping TCS to score 22-run win.
In the first match of the day, the third quarterfinal of the tournament, Capgemini defeated Maersk by 5 wickets after bowling them out for 80.
Put in to bat, Maersk were propped up by Prasad Girkar’s 39 (38b, 5x4, 1x6) as Deepak ( 2 for 9), Chandramouli (2 for 19) and Lakshaman (3 for 16) struck vital blows.
Capgemini’s chase was over in the 15th over as Girish Bora (23--32b, 2x4) and Phaneendra’s 14-ball 17 helped them to score five-wicket win and a place in the semifinals, to be played on Saturday, April 7.
Brief scores:
Maersk 80 all out in 19.1 overs (Prasad Girkar 39 (38b, 5x4, 1x6), Deepak 2-9, Chandramouli 2-19, Lakshaman 3-16) lost to Capgemini 83 for 5 in 15 overs (Girish Bora 23 (32b, 2x4), Phaneendra 17 (14b, 1x4), Sagar Wankhede 18* (20b, 1x4), Raghav Trivedi 2-21).
Result: Capgemini won by 5 wkts.
Man-of-the-match: Phaneendra 17.
TCS 148 for 4 in 20 overs (Rahul Garg 67* (49b, 3x4, 2x6), Soumya Mohanty 33* (22b, 2x4, 1x6), Abhijeet Sawant 2-27) beat Persistent 126 for 7 in 20 overs (Vishal Pawar 25 (18b, 3x4x, 1x6), Sushant Bansal 27* (28b, 2x4), Siddharth Gokhale 18 (15b, 2x4), Amarprit 24 (17b, 3x4), Jagannath Gaddiae 2-15, Gaurav Singh 2-23.
Result: TCS won by 22 runs.
Man-of-the-match: Rahul Garg 67 not out.
