Himmat Singh powers Outer Delhi Warriors to GG Dutt T20 title

New Delhi: With just about three overs to go, the well-set Lalit Yadav smashed the delivery straight down the pitch only for the ball to strike skipper Samarth Seth's middle finger in the right hand. The left-handed batsman, who was batting on 80 and was beginning to hammer bowlers to all parts of the ground, sat down in grimace there and then. He couldn't move. The bowler moved and removed the bails as Seth had backed up a long way as non-striker.

That was where Collage Sports lost their way during the final of the 51st Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial T20 Cricket Tournament at the St Stephen's College Ground on Sunday. Seth's departure meant that the responsibility of leading Collage to a big total rested solely on the shoulders of Lalit Yadav, who rose to the occasion and smacked his fifth century in 10 matches. He had scored a valuable hundred in the final of the Laxman Das Chhabra Memorial and here too, he was on the money, hammering another century.

But eventually, the 245 they put on in the 20 overs proved to be insufficient. For, Outer Delhi Warriors rode on the brilliance of Himmat Singh to coast to a four-wicket win to lift the title on their maiden attempt.

The match was delayed due to some we patch on the pitch. Put into bat, Collage found the going a bit tough on a soft surface. The talented Joon brothers, Siddharth (0) and Siddhant (0) returned early. Swastik Chikara (24 off 11) coasted but his dash was cut short by Shaurya Malik.

Himmat Singh (right) gets Player of the Match Award from ex-DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda

It was then left to Lalit Yadav (109 off 51 balls, 5x4s, 10x6s) and Samarth Seth (80 off 39 balls, 5x4s, 8x6s) to not just resurrect the innings but take it deep. Samarth went after the bowling, playing some classy strokes -- sixes and fours while Lalit Yadav bided his time.

"The early phase was slightly tough as the pitch was soft and we had lost three early wickets. So I decided to dig in. Once in, I began playing my strokes," said Lalit Yadav, who scored over 1300 runs for Goa in Ranji Trophy last season.

The two added 138 runs in 11 overs before Samarth Seth's injury. The score was 205 then. Though Lalit Yadav tried, but the scoring was from just one end and the Collage team fell 20-30 runs short.

Even then, the 246-run target in 20 overs was challenging. However, the Collage Sports bowling line-up, easily the best in the tournament, failed to turn up on the day.

They managed to get two early wickets but came unstuck against Himmat Singh. Sarthak Ranjan (39 off 20 balls, 4x4s, 3x6s) and Himmat (95 off 30 balls, 11x4s, 7x6s) added 65 runs for the third wicket. After Ranjan's dismissal, Himmat Singh continued his onslaught pulverising the attack.

"This is a batting pitch. We were confident of chasing the target because our batting is very good," said Himmat, who scored a century in the semifinal on Saturday.

(Left to Right) Sidhant Sharma, captain of Outer Delhi Warriors; Ashok Sharma, Secretary DDCA; Ravinder Manchanda, ex-Patron DDCA; Arvind Garg, BJP leader; Pramod Jain, Senior Member, DDCA; and Shekhar Sharma, CEO & coach of Outer Delhi Warriors at the presentation ceremony

Himmat missed his century by five runs on Sunday. "I was not keeping an eye on the score till I had reached 95. But then I got conscious and wanted to reach the 100 with a six and was caught [unfortunately]."

Himmat, who has just returned from a stint in IPL, also had a fruitful outing in the 40-over Tyagmurti Goswami Ganesh Dutt Tournament last month.

He was dismissed as the fourth batsman with the team score on 193. By that time the team was on victory path. Dhruv Singh made 69 off 29 balls (6x4s, 6x6s) and added 92 with Himmat for the fourth wicket.

Tags : Cricket, Delhi, Himmat Singh, Lalit Yadav, Dhruv Singh, Samarth Seth, T20, Swastik Chikara