Bengal snatch defeat as Manish Pandey takes Karnataka into Mushtaq Ali T20 semi-final
New Delhi, Nov 18: Manish Pandey first got a brilliant direct hit to take their match against Bengal into Super Over and then hit a massive six to steer Karnataka into the semi-finals of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Thursday.
It was one of the best thrillers of National T20 meet in recent times with both teams locked at 160 each after 20 overs. Karnataka scored the required six runs with four Super Over deliveries to spare.
In a debatable decision, skipper Sudeep Chatterjee sent an off-colour Kaif Ahmed along with Ritwik Roy Chowdhury in the Super Over was baffling.
Ahmed had barely scratched to score 20 off 26 balls.
Surprisingly, Ritwik, who brought Bengal back in contention with 36 off 18 balls, did not take the strike in the Super Over.
The quarter-final match was a testimony as to why Bengal's cricketers are not at all sought after when it comes franchise interest.
A lot of it had to do with lack of sane cricketing sense and the manner in which some of the batters throw away their wickets.
Barring Writtick Chatterjee (51 off 40 balls), who tried to anchor the innings, others paid the price of indiscreet shot selection.
While Shreevats Goswami (22 off 10 balls) started with 20 off the first over of chase with three fours and a six off Vijay Kumar Vyshak (0/41 in 4 overs), his opening partner Abhishek Das with a career strike-rate of less than 90, tried to pull the very first delivery of the next over when all he needed to do was give his senior partner the strike.
Goswami, who looked in good touch, went for a non-existent second run and bowler KC Cariappa (0/21 in 4 overs) effected a fine run-out.
Skipper Sudeep Chatterjee couldn't clear the in-field off military medium bowler MB Darshan as the ball hit the toe-end of his bat.
Kaif Ahmed (20 off 26 balls) added 49 with Chatterjee before being bowled by left-arm spinner J Suchith (2/24 in 4 overs), who also accounted for Shahbaz Ahmed in the very next delivery.
However former India U-25 all-rounder Ritwik, showed some great temperament. He hit two huge sixes in the final over from Vidyadhar Patil and his partner Akash Deep hit a boundary to bring the equation of 19 from 6 balls to one run off final delivery.
Akash Deep, who was recruited by RCB, instead of trying an aerial route went for a non-existent single with fielders circling him and to his horror, it went to one of India's finest ever fielders Pandey, who picked and threw down the stumps at the non-striker's end in one action.
Pandey, who till then was having an ordinary day, then came in and hit Mukesh Kumar for a six to set up a semi-final date with Vidarbha.
Earlier, Karun Nair had scored 55 off 29 balls to take Karnataka to 160 for 5 which gave them a chance to fight.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka 160/5 in 20 overs (Karun Nair 55 not out ).
Bengal 160/8 in 20 overs. (Writtick C 51, Ritwik RC 36, J Suchith 2/24).
Super Over: Bengal 6/2 in 0.4 overs. Karnataka 8/0 in 0.2 balls.
Wonderful throw by Manish Pandey to make into a super over !!!!#karvsben #smat2021 #SyedMushtaqAliTrophy#SyedMushtaqAliT20pic.twitter.com/DzKTwbWTdj
— CRICKET VIDEOS 🏏 (@AbdullahNeaz) November 18, 2021
And it's a Six from Manish Pandey 🔥👌
— Ash MSDian™🦁💛 (@ashMSDIAN7) November 18, 2021
Karnataka Chased down 6 runs in 2 deliveries (Super over) and entered into the semi finals 👏#KARvBEN | #SMAT | #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/nSDHGsNyxP
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I ran to save my life: London-based singer recalls chaos at Messi event in Kolkata
Kolkata (PTI): What was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime musical tribute to football legend Lionel Messi turned into a harrowing experience for London-based Indian singer Charles Antony, who flew to the country specially to perform at the event at Salt Lake stadium here.
Antony, a Malayali who sings in 18 languages, including Bengali, had composed a special Spanish song for Messi to welcome him in Kolkata, but was not able to sing that as he ran for his life amid chaos during the December 13 event at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here.
“I ran to save my life,” Antony told PTI, recalling how the celebration descended into mobocracy as crowd control collapsed inside the packed stadium.
Angry fans, many of whom had paid Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000 — and in some cases up to Rs 20,000 in the black market — ran riot at the venue after failing to get even a glimpse of their favourite superstar from Argentina.
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“I had barely seen him. He was smiling, but it was very clear he was uncomfortable,” Antony vividly recalled, even after 10 days had passed.
Positioned on the running tracks near the gallery, the singer was waiting for Messi to complete his lap around the ground when the situation worsened.
Antony saw Messi, his long-time strike partner Luis Suárez and Argentine teammate Rodrigo De Paul being surrounded by many people.
He noticed water bottles, food packets, stones and metal objects being hurled from the gallery. Equipment was on the verge of being damaged, and panic had set in.
“I was lucky I was not injured, and none of my equipment was damaged,” he said.
The singer said there was confusion over reporting time, with instructions given to reach the venue at both 10.30 am and 9.30 am on December 13 for a sound check, and he had not had the opportunity to visit the stadium the previous day.
Personally invited by now-arrested event organiser Satadru Dutta to sing at the Messi events in Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi, Antony had travelled from London and was staying at the Hyatt Hotel here.
Having sung in the presence of Diego Maradona during his visit to Kolkata in 2016, an experience Antony describes as joyous and perfectly managed, the contrast was stark.
“When Maradona came to Kolkata in 2016, I was inside the inner circle. Nothing went wrong then. This time, I was outside the core circle," he said.
Antony said the size of the crowd, on both occasions, was huge.
“This is the first time in my life I saw nearly one lakh people in one place. Luckily, I got the chance to sing a couple of songs at the event. Otherwise, it would have been a waste of travelling all the way from London. And now, I have become the first Indian to sing with Maradona and for Messi," he said.
Antony said people began storming the ground after VVIPs were escorted through an underground exit and former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly left the stadium.
“That’s when the police told me to run to a safe place,” he said.
With no assistance from anyone, the singer grabbed whatever he could, his guitar, cables, mouth organs, and vocal processors, stuffing them into bags.
“Everyone was worried about the VVIPs. Nobody was concerned about my safety,” he said.
With his access tag still hanging around his neck, Antony felt even more vulnerable on that day.
“People misjudged me as one of the organisers. At one point, my life was under threat,” he said.
Police advised him to move towards the centre of the ground to avoid attacks from the galleries, he said.
Eventually, Antony ran all the way back to the hotel, later shifting to another hotel for safety.
“I had no time to look for anyone else. I ran to save my life,” he said.
In the aftermath, Antony tried repeatedly to contact Satadru Dutta to understand what would happen next, but could not reach him.
“There was complete uncertainty. I was getting very agitated,” he admitted.
He also witnessed the heartbreak of fans.
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“People had come from Meghalaya, Assam, Bengaluru just to see Messi. They couldn’t even see Messi and were very disappointed. and I saw many crying,” he said.
Antony clarified that he did not take any remuneration for the performances. The organisers only covered his travel costs from London and his accommodation in India.
Despite the ordeal, he refused to single out Satadru, the organiser, for mismanagement at the stadium.
“I don’t believe Satadru is solely responsible. He (Satadru) tried his best to stop people from coming close to Messi. But some others, possibly VVIPs, were taking selfies. He was visibly helpless. Everything went out of control,” Antony said.
For the singer, the day remains a painful memory, not just because he couldn’t sing for Messi, but because what should have been a celebration of football turned into a fight for survival.
