Red Bull Cricket Campus National Finals 2021: Pune and Ahmedabad go through to the Grand finale of the 10th edition

After three days of action across Chandigarh at Sector 16 and Mullanpur stadium, the Red Bull Campus Cricket National Finals 2021 reached its semi-final stage. Four teams went up against each other at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali for two extremely exciting games. Here is the report of the two matches:

Semi-final 1: MMCC College Pune vs Shri Ram College Muzaffarnagar, IS Bindra PCA Stadium, Mohali

Pune won the toss and elected to field first. The little moisture on the wicket helped the bowlers. Opener Arpit Baliyan got 22 quick runs from 12 balls while Sparsh Sahrawat kept holding one end with his 31 runs from 37 balls. But, after a good start by Muzaffarnagar, Pune managed to pull things back. Chaitanya Kaushal scored 32 runs from 36 balls and Vishal Singh made an 18-ball 19. 

The collective bowling effort of Pune managed to restrict Muzaffarnagar to just 123 for 8. Sachin Bhosale got two wickets and so did Akash Jadhav. Atul Vitkar and Sanket Pharate also picked up a wicket each. Pune’s batting was once as professional as their other facets. Their batters managed the required rate well and never really allowed Muzaffarnagar to get even a sniff. 

Dhiraj Phatangare made 23 runs from 19 balls. It was a stand between Yash Kshirsagar and Aniket Porwal which guided Pune home and into the final. Yash made a run-a-ball 44 while Porwal scored 45 runs from 32 balls. Vishal Singh and Akash Luthra picked up a wicket each but that was all the Muzaffarnagar managed to get. Pune ended up reaching the target with 17 balls to spare. 

Brief scores: Pune 125 for 2 (Aniket Porwal 45, Sachin Bhosale 2 for 22) beat Muzaffarnagar 123 for 8 (Chaitanya Kaushal 32, Akash Luthra 1 for 23) by eight wickets. 

Semi-final 2: TKRES College Hyderabad vs New LJ College Ahmedabad, IS Bindra PCA Stadium, Mohali

Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat first. Bairy Revanth batted well for his 32-ball 25 while his opening partner Sai Pranay made 35 runs from 22 balls. Batting at no. 3, Pratyush Miryala scored 46 runs from 36 balls. But it was a brilliant cameo from Hitesh Yadav who took 10 balls to smash 27 runs which helped Hyderabad finish on 159 for 5, with the momentum going in their favor at the halfway stage. For Ahmedabad, it was their two left-arm spinners, Yash Doshi and Smit Patel who picked up two wickets each with the ball.

Ahmedabad’s openers gave them a solid start. Vimal Kumar Solanki scored a run-a-ball 34 as he played the second fiddle to his opening partner Dhairav Oza who made 51 runs from 34 balls. Rahul Ahuja scored 16 from 14. However, Hyderabad found its way in the middle overs with the ball starting to come slowly from the surface. Praneeth Raj, Pratyush Miryala, Hitesh Yadav, and Kavin Gupta of Hyderabad picked up a wicket each to get their team’s hopes high. 

Ahmedabad skipper Bhavin Engle and hard-hitting batter Dhaval Pandya managed to rescue them in the end. Engle ended up with an unbeaten 27 from 20 balls while Pandya scored 24 runs from just 10 balls to see off the chase with just three balls to spare. The win ensured Ahmedabad set up a final date with Pune. 

Brief scores: Ahmedabad 160 for 4 (Dhairav Oza 51, Smit Patel 2 for 26) beat Hyderabad 159 for 5 (Pratyush Miryala 46 and 1 for 22, Hitesh Yadav 24 and 1 for 17) by four wickets.