Red Bull Campus Cricket National Finals India 2022: Delhi and Ahmedabad march into finals

After witnessing eight teams playing a total of 12 matches in the group stage of the Red Bull Campus Cricket (RBCC) National Finals India 2022, four teams made their way into the men’s semi-finals of the mega event at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali. Alfalah University (Delhi), DAV College (Jalandhar), DAVV University (Indore), and New LJ College (Ahmedabad) competed against each other aiming to reach the ultimate stage- The Finals.

Here’s the report of the two matches-

Semi-finals 1: Alfalah University (Delhi) vs DAV College (Jalandhar) at IS Bindra Stadium (PCA), Mohali

Delhi openers Govind Singh Rathore (15 off 16) and Qamran Iqbal (23 off 19) shared six boundaries between them as they got their side of to a great start after being put to bat first by Jalandhar. The team lost the momentum when they lost the openers in the fourth and eighth over respectively. It was Avneesh Sudha who provided his team some stability as he found the gap at the right time and hit the ball across the fence a couple of times, thereby adding some quick runs to the scoreboard.

Jalandhar’s Suhail Khan added two wickets to his cap within two overs, as he dismissed Sudha (25 off 22) and Aniket Singh (6 off 9). Dheeru Singh’s run-a-ball 22 and Badal Singh’s cameo of a 19-ball 24 towards the end helped Delhi put a defendable total. Balraj Singh’s four-wicket haul helped Jalandhar to restrict Delhi to a low score. That brought the Jalandhar batters on the field to start the chase.

Opener Ridham Satyawan (61 off 56) gave a good start to the side, but he could not form a partnership with his teammates, and wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Jalandhar faced a collapse in the middle as they lost their batting lineup like dominoes. Satyawan’s half-century steered the innings a bit, but Faizan Alam and Mohammed Sharim wreaked havoc on the field and restricted Jalandhar to 120 runs to win the match by 16 runs, thereby making their way into the finals.

Brief Scores: Delhi defeated Jalandhar by 16 runs

Delhi: 136/10 in 20 overs (Avneesh Sudha- 25(22); Balraj Singh- 4/32 in 4 overs)

Jalandhar: 120/10 in 20 overs (Ridham Satyawan- 61(56); Mohammed Sharim- 4/15 in 3 overs)

Semi-finals 2: DAVV University (Indore) vs New LJ College (Ahmedabad) at IS Bindra Stadium (PCA), Mohali

Ahmedabad decided to make the most out of the first innings and thus opted to bat first. Yashraj Joshi (30 off 17) and Dhairav Oza (22 off 15) took their team to a terrific start and added 44 runs for the opening stand. But the two had to walk back in the powerplay. Indore tried their best to restrict Ahmedabad batters after the breakthroughs and bagged more wickets to break their momentum.

Skipper Bhavin Engle (33 off 32) and Dhaval Pandya stitched up a brilliant 63-runs partnership in the middle, which helped Ahmedabad put up a big total of 173 runs at the loss of nine wickets. Pandya (46 off 22) batted at a strike rate of 209.09 but fell short of just four runs to complete a well-deserving half-century. Shubham Gunjal’s four-wicket haul helped Indore at the crucial stages as he bowled at a good economy of 6.25.

Ahmedabad, who finished runners-up last year, was into this game with an aim. Indore openers were settling well, but Nitishkumar Mishra struck twice and scalped them both. It became for Indore batters to get their game going at a good pace as their opponents did not provide them with any scope of making a big impact. Smit Patel’s extravagant five-wicket haul helped Ahmedabad make way into the finals, thereby defeating Indore by a whopping 53 runs.

Brief Scores: Ahmedabad defeated Indore by 53 runs

Ahmedabad: 173/9 in 20 overs (Dhaval Pandya- 46(22); Shubham Gunjal- 4/25 in 4 overs)

Indore: 120/10 in 18 overs (Pawan Nirwani- 36(20); Smit Patel- 5/7 in 3 overs)