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In a thrilling end to a closely contested game, Delhi Giants defeated Chandigarh Lions through bowl out in the ICL's Twenty20 match played in Panchkula on Wednesday night.
Chasing 201 for victory, the Giants managed to reach 200 for 4 at the end of 20 overs. They needed eight runs in the final over bowled by Lions skipper Andrew Hall, who had a well set opener Avishka Gunawardene (64) bowled out of the second ball.
The Giants needed five runs of the last ball, but their skipper Paul Nixon, who led the side in the absence of Marvan Atapattu, managed to hit a boundary, thus leveling the scores and forcing a bowl out.
However, the Lions made a mess of the bowl out as none of their bowler succeeded in hitting the stumps while Ali Murtaza and Dhruv Mahajan hit the stumps for Giants.
Earlier, a sensational batting display from opener Monish Mishra, who struck 81 of 44 balls, and brilliant knock by his partner Avishka Gunawardene helped Delhi Giants surpass a formidable 200 posted by Chandigarh Lions.
The 22-year-old right handed Mishra's blazing innings, which earned him man-of-the-match was studded with ten boundaries and three towering sixes and when he was stumped of the bowling of spinner Rajesh Sharma on the last ball of 11th over, the Lions were celebrating.
However, the pair had weaved a crucial 126-run partnership by then and though Giants lost their second wicket when Abhinav Bali (15) got out in the 17th over, Gunawardene ensured that he stayed till the end.