Hyderabad, July 9 (IANS) Skipper Tanmay Agarwal led from the front with a sensational 61-ball 137 before spinner Ashish Srivastav scalped a five-wicket haul as EIPL & Eleve Karimnagar Diamonds routed Ranga Reddy Risers by 75 runs to storm into the Qualifier 2 of the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s TG20 in Hyderabad on Thursday.
By virtue of this victory, Karimnagar Diamonds will now face the losing team of Qualifier 1, to be played between Hyderabad E-Champions and Anvita Khammam Aces, in the do-or-die Qualifier 2 fixture scheduled for Friday.
Electing to bat first, Karimnagar Diamonds, riding on a batting masterclass from Tanmay and a fine half-century from Hrishikesh Simha (50), posted a mammoth 238/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Ranga Reddy Risers’ chase fizzled out for 163 runs in 16.3 overs despite fighting fifties from skipper Tanay Thyagarajann (63) and Nitin Sai Yadav (50), courtesy of Srivastav’s brilliant spell of 5-16.
The day, however, belonged to Tanmay, who slammed his second consecutive and third overall century of the tournament. His explosive innings was laced with 11 boundaries and 10 towering sixes, propelling him to the top of the ‘Orange Cap’ leaderboard with an aggregate of 465 runs.
The Diamonds’ captain set the tone early on, motoring his team to 75/1 in the Powerplay. He notched up his individual half-century in just 24 deliveries. Tanmay then found an able ally in Simha as the duo shared a devastating 139-run partnership for the second wicket off just 69 balls.
Simha reached his own milestone off 27 balls, while Tanmay breached the three-figure mark in 48 balls. Though Nitin Sai Yadav eventually dismissed Tanmay in the latter half, sparking a late batting collapse where the Diamonds lost five wickets for 28 runs, the total proved way beyond the Risers’ reach.
Chasing a daunting 239, Ranga Reddy Risers suffered early jolts, losing opener Aaron George (12) and Alankrith Rapole (2) cheaply within the first three overs to sit precariously at 29/2. Skipper Tanay counter-attacked valiantly alongside Aditya Javvaji (17), stitching a quick-fire 43-run stand.
However, Srivastav completely turned the tide by picking up two wickets in the seventh over – outfoxing Aditya and Gnana Prakash Reddy (1) in quick succession, with wicketkeeper Rahul Radesh sharp as a hawk behind the stumps to effect the two dismissals.
Though Tanay struggled hard to keep the match alive, he hit 63 off 33 balls before being cleaned up by Shubham Sharma (2/14), and once Nitin holed out for a 30-ball 50, the lower order crumbled completely under pressure to hand the Diamonds a comprehensive victory.
Brief scores:
EIPL & Eleve Karimnagar Diamonds 238/7 in 20 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 137, Hrishikesh Simha 50; Aryan Cariappa 2-52, Arun Kumar 1-41) beat Ranga Reddy Risers 163 all out in 16.3 overs (Tanay Thyagarajann 63, Nitin Sai Yadav 50; Ashish Srivastav 5-16, Shubham Sharma 2-14) by 75 runs.
–IANS
nr/bsk/