Abhirath Reddy’s blazing 82 takes Hyderabad E-Champions into TG20 final

Captain Abhirath Reddy smashed 82 off 49 balls as Hyderabad E-Champions defeated Karimnagar Diamonds by eight wickets in Qualifier 2 of the Sreenidhi University TG20 League. E-Champions chased down 158 with ease and entered Sunday’s final

Hyderabad: Captain and opener Abhirath Reddy continued to dazzle with the bat as he produced another brilliant display of controlled aggression (82, 49b, 7×4, 5×6) to guide Hyderabad E-Champions to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Karimnagar Diamonds in Qualifier 2 of the Sreenidhi University TG20 League cricket championship at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Friday night.

E-Champions will take on Anvita Khammam Aces in the final on Sunday.

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Abhirath, who is now the leading scorer with 501 runs in this edition, put on a 124-run opening stand in 12.3 overs with the equally aggressive Vikas Reddy (45, 31b, 3×4, 3×6) to virtually take the opponents out of the contest early.

When Vikas got out, Abhirath was joined by Vaishnav Reddy (25 n.o., 12b, 2×4, 2×6), and the duo took the team closer before the former, attempting a lofted drive on off-stump, edged Akhil Sankoju to wicketkeeper Rahul Radesh. Hyderabad E-Champions reached 149/2 in 14.6 overs. By then, however, the match was all but over for Karimnagar.

Earlier, electing to bat, Karimnagar Diamonds suffered a huge blow in the fourth over when in-form captain Tanmay Agarwal (10), who had cracked three centuries in this edition, was dismissed by off-spinner Shanmukha Ashwin.

Soon, medium-pacer Akhil Rathod removed the other opener Satwik Reddy (28, 21b, 1×4, 2×6) in the eighth over to reduce Diamonds to 61 for two.

A 40-run stand between H.K. Simha (38, 31b, 2×6) and Rahul Radesh (28, 15b, 5×4) helped Diamonds recover from the crisis before left-arm spinner Pranav Varma dismissed Simha and Ashwin cleaned up Rahul. Pranav struck again by dismissing hard-hitting Chandan Sahahi (7) to leave Diamonds struggling at 119 for five in 16.2 overs.

It was a terrific show by the spin duo of Ashwin and Pranav, who together bowled eight overs, conceded 54 runs and picked up four wickets.

A late flourish by Shubham Sharma (31 n.o., 18b, 1×4, 2×6) and his crucial 38-run sixth-wicket stand with Narayana Teja (9, 14b) helped Diamonds post a more respectable total of 157 for seven in 20 overs before medium-pacer Ajay Dev Goud picked up two wickets in the final over.

The scores: Karimnagar Diamonds 157/7 in 20 overs (H.K. Simha 38, Shubham Sharma 31 n.o.; Ajay Dev Goud 2/24, Shanmukha Ashwin 2/22, Pranav Varma 2/32) lost to Hyderabad E-Champions 160/2 in 15.3 overs (Abhirath Reddy 82, Vikas Reddy 45, Vaishnav Reddy 25 n.o.).

Player of the match: Abhirath Reddy.