By IANS
Panchkula (Haryana) : An all-round performance by Kiwi Andre Adams saw Kolkata Tigers clinch a narrow two-run victory over Mumbai Champs in a thrilling encounter in the Edelweiss Twenty20 Challenge of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) here.
Electing to bat, the Tigers scored 146 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs before restricting Mumbai champs to 144 for nine at the Tau Devi Lal stadium here Wednesday night.
Tigers’ opener Subhomoy Das (21) got into the act right away hitting two boundaries in the first over of Van der Wath.
West Indian Tino Best got the first break for the Champs as he castled Lance Klusener (9) in the fourth over. Medium pacer Ranjit Khirid struck the second blow dismissing Subhomoy with the first ball of his spell. Michael Kasprowicz added another scalp rattling the stumps of captain Craig Macmillan with the Tigers precariously placed at 67 for three in 10th over.
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (33) and Rohan Gavaskar (44) did most of the scoring for the Tigers with Adams (21) later joining the party to take the score to 146.
The Champs started their reply on a shaky note with Adams claiming the wicket of opener Saman Jayantha in the very first over.
Adams then ended the crucial 71-run stand between Subhojit Paul (27) and Raviraj Patil (52), getting Patil out after a quick-fire innings that came in 31 balls.
Some tight overs in the middle of the innings from the experienced Klusener and Mcmillan brought the Tigers back into the game.
The Champs needed 45 off the last five overs but a rash stroke from their captain Nathan Astle (30) changed the match. A mini batting collapse followed which reduced the Champs to 130 for six in the 17th over.
They needed nine runs off the last over but the lower order found Nantie Hayward too quick to knock off the runs and finally fell short by two runs.
Brief scores: Kolkata Tigers 146/5 (Rohan Gavaskar 41, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala 33, Andre Adams 21, Ranjit Khirid 17/2); Mumbai Champs 144/9 (R. Patil 52, Nathan Astle 30, Andre Adams 3/35).