SB Mysore oust ONGC by five wickets

Chandigarh, Sep 26 (UNI) State Bank of Mysore joined Punjab Cricket Club Punjab Cricket Association Colts and MRF of Chennai in the semi-finals of the 14th All India JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament here today.

Tomorrow MRF Chennai will take on Punjab Cricket Club in the first semi-final to be played at the PCA Stadium Mohali.

In a cliffhanger tie, State Bank of Mysore outclassed Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) by five wickets in the last league match at here today and ensured their berth in the semi- finals against PCA Colts.

Before the start of match ONGC were toping the table with 10 points from two outings whereas State Bank of Mysore was at the second position with five points from two outings in pool B.

Equation for both the teams was that State Bank of Mysore required a win with bonus point to qualify for the semi-finals, whereas ONGC team needed only bonus point even if they lost the match.

In a rain interrupted match shortened to 20 overs a side, State Bank of Mysore won the toss and opted to field first. Their bowlers responded well and never allowed their opponents to score freely. Chetan Williams, right- arm medium pacer bowled with lot of fire as he sent back three top order batsmen back to pavilion. He was well supported by left-arm spinners Anand Katti and Noorudin as both gave only 22 runs from their eight overs. ONGC XI could manage only 95 runs before getting all out on the penultimate ball.

State Bank of Mysore, requiring 96 runs in 16.1 overs to qualify for the semi-finals, started well as openers Tilka Naidu (23) and Vijay (18) added 42 runs in just 40 balls to lay a solid foundation.

Former Test player Sarandeep Singh put some breaks on the scoring rate by claiming two wickets but was not able to stop their run chase as State Bank of Mysore achieved the target in 15.1 overs.

Anand Katti was adjudged Man of the Match.

State Bank of Mysore will face PCA Colts in the semi-finals on September 28 at PCA Stadium Mohali.

Meanwhile, MRF and Rajasthan Cricket Association were tied with nine points each in pool D. Both have two wins and one defeat in their accounts which gave them nine points apiece. However, MRF (1.100) pipped RCA (0.510) on the basis of their net run rate UNI