Delhi lose to Haryana by 1 run

NEW DELHI: It only took Haryana twenty minutes to change the course of the game. Delhi required just 24 runs from the last 30 balls. They had seven wickets in hand. One would have thought they would have it easy.
But that wasn't to be as they lost to Haryana by one run in a low-scoring thriller in their fourth match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Friday.Defending a modest 116, Haryana bowlers Harshal Patel (118), Ashish Hooda (29) and Jayant Yadav (120) bowled their hearts out and helped their team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
With just six runs required from the last over, Hooda was entrusted with the task of bowling the 20th over. Hooda had Manan Sharma (4) caught at mid-on by Harshal and then forced Rahul Yadav (8) to nick one to the keeper Rahul Dalal. Hooda was unlucky to miss out on a hat-trick but his short balls worked well against the Delhi tail, who failed to connect bat to ball, managing only four runs in the last over.
Delhi was off to a decent start, putting 38 runs on the board for the first wicket. Unmukt Chand (38) hit two consecutive boundaries off Harshal Patel, one through point and the other through extra cover. Skipper Gautam Gambhir (22) also started his innings with a boundary, with his nick beating the fine leg fielder by some margin.
Haryana drew first blood when Gambhir was caught at short mid-wicket by Sachin Rana off Yuzvendra Chahal. Unmukt showed glimpses of form as he hammered Chahal for 14 runs (4, 6, 4) in his second over but Chahal had him caught at long-on in his last over. None of the other batsmen ever looked threatening.
Delhi, who currently have eight points from four games, witnessed another middle-order collapse as they lost their second match in a row. Their side has been weakened by the absence of Virender Sehwag, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder issue. Earlier, a fine spell by Delhi bowlers Parwinder Awana (215) and Pawan Suyal (215) saw Haryana struggling at 19-4. Jayant Yadav (31) and Amit Mishra (18*) shared a crucial 52-run partnership for the seventh wicket to bring some respectability to the Haryana innings.
Brief Scores: Haryana 1157 in 20 overs (J Yadav 31; P Awana 215, P Suyal 215) beat Delhi 1147 in 20 overs (U Chand 38, G Gambhir 22; A Hooda 29)