The Delhi Turf Twenty20 law firm cricket cup saw defending champion Luthra & Luthra and favourites Trilegal and Dua Associates get knocked out in the quarter finals, with Bhasin & Co, Desai & Diwanji, Titus & Co and Saikrishna qualifying for the semis.

Bhasin & Co ousted Luthra after successfully chasing a target of 181 runs in Sunday night’s last quarter finals.

After initially strong performances in the group stage, Trilegal and Dua Associates suffered defeat at the hands of Desai & Diwanji and Titus & Co respectively.

Saikrishna has emerged as the fourth semi-finalist after wining against Kohli & Sobti.

Bhasin & Co had steadily climbed up the group stage after defeating Titus and achieving higher net run rate (NRR) over Amarchand in Pool A to qualify for the decisive quarter final match against Luthra & Luthra, a team that topped the same pool with 10 points.

Bhasin & Co team captain and senior associate Ravi Gopal said: “To chase a total of 181 was no doubt a big challenge, but our strategy was to keep sending our defending batsmen first followed by explosive batsmen later.”

“Team effort and consistent batting performance helped us in scoring the critical 14 runs we needed in the last over. Finally, Amit Shukla and Brajesh Uphadhay got us three runs of the last remaining ball for winning,” he added.

Bhasin & Co managing partner Lalit Bhasin attended the match and told Legally India: “I am here not only for the players of my firm but also to boost the morale of others as a representative of SILF. Such tournaments serve as a good platform for developing healthy interaction between members of law firms.”

Luthra associate and batsmen Prashant Mishra was declared the man of the match after scoring 115 runs. The firm finished at 180 for four in 20 overs.

Luthra’s opening bowler and associate Sachit Mathur expressed his disappointment but added: “We believe in sportsmanship spirit and would definitely be there to cheer up other teams during the semi-finals.”

Titus & Co is the other team to qualify for the semi-finals from Pool A after it successfully made 120 runs in just 16.2 overs and losing only two wickets, against the total of 117 runs that was set-up by Dua Associates.

Titus captain and partner Vibhu Shankar told Legally India: “We have been practicing at Jasola for some time… our strength lies in constant discussions and counselling with each player.”

Titus associate and batsman Praveen Nagar added that, “we’re back with a vengeance and hope to perform better.” Titus associate Saurabh Anand was man of the match.

In Pool C, despite Trilegal’s perfect score in the group stage and its earlier victory over Suri & Co and Desai & Diwanji, the strong bowling order of Desai & Diwanji crumbled Trilegal’s batting lines and the firm ended up with a meagre 111 all out in 17.2 overs.

This low score was easily matched by Desai & Diwanji in only 16 overs with just three batsmen down.

Desai & Diwanji partner Amit Khansaheb was also its team captain and associate Abhishek Kalla was acclaimed ‘man of the match’.

The semi-final matches will be played on Saturday (12 December) followed by finals on Sunday (13 December).

On Saturday, Desai & Diwanji will face Saikrishna in the afternoon and Titus & Co will play against Bhasin & Co in the evening.

Photo by Tc7