Delhi messed up their run chase with their lower order coming a cropper at the fag end as they lost to Haryana by one run in a low-scoring thriller in the North Zone leg of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy at the Feroz Shah Kotla here today.
Chasing 116 for a win, Delhi seemed to be well on course with openers Unmukt Chand (38) and Gautam Gambhir (22) providing a steady base only to stumble at the end.
Delhi reached 76 for 3 in the 13th over, but Chand fell in the 16th over, Milind Kumar followed in the 18th and Delhi were left needing five runs to win off as many balls.
Then, Manan Sharma and Rahul Yadav fell to seamer Ashish Hooda in consecutive deliveries as Delhi could score only three from the remaining three deliveries to finish at 114 for 7 and lose the match.
Earlier, Haryana recovered from 19 for 4 with Jayant Yadav hitting a 25-ball 31 coming in at number seven and Sandeep Godara (20) and Amit Mishra (18 not out) making useful contributions to go past 100. Parvinder Awana, Pawan Suyal and Manan claimed two wickets each for Delhi.
In another North Zone match, Punjab beat Services by eight wickets, riding on an economical bowling performance, followed by a brisk fifty from Manan Vohra (60 not out).
Services, who chose to bat, were jolted by regular wickets and managed only 123 for 7. India discard off-spinner and captain Harbhajan Singh was the most successful bowler with 2 for 20.
Vohra took control of the chase, adding 60 with opening partner Jaskaran Sohi (25) and went on to make an unbeaten 60 off 51 balls to secure victory at Palam Ground here.
Meanwhile, Ankush Bains' 46-ball 54 and some brisk lower-order hitting from Rishi Dhawan (42 not out of 35 balls) and captain Bipul Sharma (31 not out of 10 balls) helped Himachal Pradesh seal a 37-run win over Jammu & Kashmir at the Kotla here.
