‘Utility’ is his middle name, and Biplab Samantaray proved just that by putting up a stellar all-round show at the DY Patil Sports Stadium here on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old right-hander from Odisha scored an enterprising 59 (41b, 7x4, 1x6) before bowling an excellent last over as Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) eked out an eight-run win over DY Patil Group ‘A’ to book a place in the semifinals of the IDBI Federal Life Insurance DY Patil T20 Cup.
Electing to bat, CAG posted 164/6. Apart from Samantaray, who was the fifth batsman out when the scoreboard read 89 in the 13th over, Ankit Sharma (32, 18b, 2x4, 2x6) and Ankit Kaushik (43, 25b, 3x4, 4x6) fuelled the pyrotechnic display as CAG nearly doubled its tally in the last eight overs.
The host team and its motley crew of supporters were hoping for a straightforward chase after DY Patil Group ‘B’ won its quarterfinal against Reliance One in the Super Over.
But the Bravish Shetty-led CAG ensured there won’t be an all-home semifinal.
Shetty’s decision to start proceedings with off-spinner Akshay Wakhare and left-arm spinner Imtiaz Ahmed worked wonders as the duo gave away just 42 runs in six overs. Sarfaraz Khan (31, 29b, 3x4) and Yogesh Takawale (36, 30b, 2x4. 1x6) resurrected the innings, but when Samantaray had the latter bowled, the scales well and truly tilted in CAG’s favour.
Bizarre tactic
DP Patil’s bizarre tactic of sending Piyush Chawla ahead of Kedar Jadhav probably cost it the game. Jadhav, who creamed 41 runs off 24 balls (2x4, 2x6), swept and drove with panache, but the equation — 24 off two overs and 16 off six deliveries — proved beyond his reach. The penultimate over, bowled by Ahmed, went for only seven. Samantaray got his yorkers right in the last over even as Jadhav remained unbeaten yet vanquished.
Wednesday is a rest day. The semifinal matches will be played on Thursday morning. The final will be staged under lights the same evening.
BRIEF SCORES:Quarterfinals: At DY Patil Stadium: DY Patil ‘B’ 168/7 in 20 overs (Shivam Dubey 51, Shashank Singh 48; Babasaf Khan Pathan 2/18, Krunal Pandya 2/28) tied with Reliance One 168/7 in 20 overs (Nikhil Naik 52, Axar Patel 39; Prateek Dabholkar 2/17, Manjit Chowdhary 2/34). DY Patil ‘B’ won in the Super Over.
CAG 165/6 in 20 overs (Biplab Samantray 59, Ankit Kaushik 43, Ankit Sharma 32*; Shubham Ranjane 2/23) bt DY Patil ‘A’ 156/6 in 20 overs (Kedar Jadhav 41*, Yogesh Takawale 36, Sarfaraz Khan 31; Biplab Samantaray 2/32, Gurinder Singh 2/34).
At University Ground: Central Railway 164/6 in 20 overs (Saanket Bhaye 50, Pravin Deshetti 39; Mussavir Khote 29; Akash Parkar 2/41) bt Mumbai Customs 89 in 14.4 overs (Asad Pathan 34, Sumit Ghadigaokar 18; Vidyadhar Kamath 4/18; Santosh Saxena 2/15).
State Bank of Hyderabad 89 in 18.5 overs (B Sumanth 34; Shreyas Gopal 4/16, Aavishkar Salvi 3/12) lost to BPCL 92/2 in 13.2 overs (Shreyas Gopal 34*, Manish Pandey 32*).
DY Patil Group ‘B’ prevailed in a Super Over against Reliance One in other quarterfinal
Thursday’s matches
SEMIFINAL LINE-UP
(matches start at 12.45 p.m.)
At University Ground: BPCL v Central Railway
At DY Patil Stadium: DY Patil ‘B’ v CAG
FINAL
(at DY Patil Stadium from 6.15 p.m.)
Live telecast on Sony Six
