Nagpur: Prashant Nimbarte’s hat-trick helps TOI drub Hitavada by 7 wickets in Inter-Press Cricket

NAGPUR: Medium-pacer Prashant Nimbarte took a hat-trick as defending champions The Times of India ousted The Hitavada by seven wickets in the OCW-SJAN Inter-Press Cricket tournament at the Ambedkar College ground here on Thursday.
The 22nd edition of the tourney is being organized in association with SBI and the HCL Technologies. With this second successive win in the Super Six stage, TOI stormed into the semifinals. On the other hand, Hitavada bowed out with second consecutive defeat.
Opting to bat, Hitavada were restricted to 94 for 9 in 20 overs. Nimbarte claimed first hat-trick of the season conceding just five runs. He was well supported by Sandeep Wardhane and Sandeep Dabhekar who scalped two wickets each. After early collapse Ronel Michael (38) and Kaushik Bhattacharya (19 not out) tried to steady the ship.
However, after the fall of Michael, rest of the Hitavada batsmen failed to put up any resistance. Nimbarte’s hat-trick was the final nail in the coffin.
Chasing a modest target, TOI romped home in just 9.1 overs losing three wickets. Openers Rupesh Bhaik (35) and Pratik Siddharth (18) provided a flying start. Bhaik were particularly more severe on Hitavada bowlers. Dabhekar (16 not out) completed the formalities with a towering six in the end.
Rotarian Nishikant Kashikar gave man-of-the-match trophy to Nimbarte. On Friday, Lokmat will take on Punya Nagari in the last Super Six outing.
Brief Scores
The Hitavada 94-9 in 20 overs (Ronel Michael 38, Kaushik Bhattacharya 19*; Prashant Nimbarte 3-5, Sandeep Dabhekar 2 for 13, Sandeep Wardhane 2-17) lost to The Times of India 100-3 in 9.1 overs (Rupesh Bhaik 35, Pratik Siddharth 18, Sandeep Dabhekar 16*, Vinay Pande 13; Shrikant Bhalerao 3-28) by seven wickets.