Champs cruise to consolation win

Mumbai Champs 160 for 9 (Astle 42, Khirid 32, Paul 30, Hall 4-8) beat Chandigarh Lions 125 for 8 (Chetan Sharma 25, Iyer 2-13) by 35 runs
Scorecard

The Mumbai Champs, already out of the reckoning for a semi-final spot, cruised to a consolation 35-run victory over the Chandigarh Lions. The win was set up by a solid batting display, led by their captain Nathan Astle's breezy 42.

Astle chose to bat at the toss, and the Champs lost two wickets before he and Subhojit Paul smashed 60 runs in six overs. Shreyas Khanolkar and Kiran Powar provided useful contributions before Ranjit Khirid provided the impetus towards the end of the innings. He lashed a 21-ball 32 to lift the Champs to 160.

Andrew Hall turned in an outstanding bowling performance, finishing with 4 for 8 in his three overs, while Daryl Tuffey, Chris Cairns and Dinesh Mongia went for more than nine an over.

After Manish Sharma was run out in the second over, Tejinder Pal Singh and Lou Vincent set up a platform for the Lions' chase, taking them to 46 before Vincent fell in the eighth over. Shridhar Iyer then struck twice to remove Tejinder Pal and Mongia, and the Lions' chase looked in disarray at 70 for 4, needing 91 with 47 deliveries remaining.

Once Michael Kasprowicz dismissed the dangerous Cairns, the hunt looked all but over for the Lions. They closed at 125 for 8 in their 20 overs, and more importantly lost out on two points in their pursuit of a semi-final spot.