Hrithik Shokeen picks four as Sahgal march to final of Laxman Dass cricket

It was a case of an opportunity lost for Ravi Brothers, whose batsmen squandered their 40th Laxman Dass Memorial Cricket Tournament semifinal against Sahgal Cricket Club at St Stephen's Ground, despite getting off to good starts.

Opener Sujal Singh (39 off 36 balls), skipper Ayush Doseja (63 off 51 balls) and Pranav Pant (42 off 28 balls) got off to promising starts but failed to build on them.

"We lost batsmen after they had got off to good starts. We also couldn't get as many runs in the powerplay as we wanted," said coach Ajay Chaudhary.

Off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen took 4/43, striking blows at the right time to thwart Ravi Brothers.

The delivery that got rid off the young and talented Rounak Waghela was special. It went straight on and beat the left-handed batsman's defence.

"The pitch was supporting turn, especially at the start. So I was trying to put the ball in good areas, so the result will be good," said Shokeen after helping the team enter the final.

"I felt that the turn was troubling him a lot, so a straighter one will trouble him once," he said on Waghela's wicket.

At 221/7 in the 33rd over, they were still looking capable of taking the total to beyond 270 as Pranav Pant was still there. However, the talented left-handed batsman was caught on the edge of the boundary as he went for his third six. Pranav's departure put paid to Ravi Brothers' hopes of setting up a challenging target. They folded for 243/9.

With the target not posing a challenge, it was an easy picking for the Sahgal Cricket Club.

Openers Mohammed Sultan Ansari, the skipper, and Shivam Chaudhary added 81 for the first wicket. Ansari ended with 70 off 61 balls (9x4s, 2x6s) while Chaudhary scored a quickfire 54 off 28 balls (9x4s, 2x6s).

To Ravi Brothers' credit, they kept fighting through their spinners Manan Bhardwaj (who was declared the Fighter of the Match) and Rounal Waghela. They 3/53 and 3/65 respectively. But the target proved too little.

Dev Lakra getting the Man of the Match Award in first semifinal

In the first semifinal played on Wednesday, Dev Lakra scored a whirlwind 70 not out (39 balls, 5x4s, 4x6s) to help Mount Cricket Club beat Rajnigandha Achievers by one wicket on the last ball of the match. Batsmen Yamit Sehrawat (66 off 70), captain Yugal Saini (69 off 63 balls) and Dhruv Singh (69 off 44 balls) scored half-centuries for Mount in their quest of the 297-run target.

Rajnigandha Achievers had made 296/9 thanks largely to Shubham Rohilla's 97 off 78 balls. Anmol and Sohraab Dhaliwal made 67 each while Shubham Patwal hit 48. Prashant Veer took 3/37.

The final of the tournament, the first of the Delhi cricket's Hot Weather circuit, will take place on May 12. It will be between Sahgal Cricket Club and Mount Cricket Club  

Tags : Hrithik Shokeen, Laxman Dass Memorial Cricket, Delhi Cricket, Ayush Doseja, Pranav Pant, Rounak Waghela, Dev Lakra, Yugal Saini, Delhi cricket