NEW DELHI, May 25: Mohammad Atiq (54: 6x4, 1x6, 45 balls) and Ashish Sharma (65 not out: 5x4, 2x6, 56b) shared a fruitful partnership of 84 for the third wicket that paved the way for Ambassador Sky Chef's comfortable seven-wicket win over Collage Group in a Pool A league match of the 22nd Lala Raghubir Singh tournament at Modern School grounds here on Monday.With two victories in the three-team pool (having earlier beaten Subhania), Ambassador Sky Chef have made it to the Super League where they will be joined by last year's finalists D S Group and Malviya Club.
Put in to bat, Collage Group ran into early trouble, losing four wickets for 77 runs in the 19th over before a fighting 90-run stand between Satinder Yadav (96: 11x4, 1x6, 89b) and Adil Sheikh (47 not out: 3x4, 1x6, 56b) helped the team stage a grand recovery. Mohd Atiq had done the early damage by claiming both the Collage Group openers with only 28 runs on the board.
But for their defiance, Collage may not even have crossed the 200-run mark.Jagjit Singh (22) and Rajinder Bisht (43: 5x4, 59b) gave Ambassador Sky Chef a confident start, putting on 59 runs. But after the fall of both the openers, in the space of 16 runs, Mohd Atiq and Ashish Sharma took over for the next 10 overs when 84 further runs were added. After Atiq's dismissal in the 25th over with the team still 63 runs in arrears, Ashish Sharma and Subhash Chaudhary (23 not out) ensured Ambassador Sky Chef's victory.
Brief Scores Collage Group: 221 for 7 in 40 overs (Satinder Yadav 96, Adil Sheikh 47 not out, Ashok Mudgal 2 for 52, Mohd Atiq 2 for 29.
Ambassador Sky Chef: 223 for 3 in 34.3 overs (Rajinder Bisht 43, Mohd Atiq 54, Ashish Sharma 65 not out, Subhash Chaudhary 23 not out).
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
