Ranchi, June 13 (IANS) Koylanchal Super Kings and the Jamshedpur Steelers secured hard-fought victories over Chota Nagpur Royals and Dhanbad Diamonds respectively on day three of the Jharkhand T20 Cricket League held at the JSCA International Stadium Complex. Koylanchal Super Kings won by five wickets while Jamshedpur Steelers sealed their victory by 7 runs.

In the opening match of the day on Friday, Chota Nagpur Royals were bowled out for 190 in 19.4 overs. Chandan Kumar Mukhi top-scored for his side with a brisk 49. He was well-supported by openers MD Nazim Siddiqui (41) and Virat Singh (36) in the innings. For the Koylanchal Super Kings, Shubh Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, returning figures of 3/43 in his 3.4 overs.

Chasing a target of 191, Koylanchal Super Kings got off to a flyer as Utkarsh Singh (53) and Player of the Match Sharandeep Singh Bhatia (79) stitched together a commanding 122-run opening partnership. A late cameo from Shubh Sharma guided the team home in 19.1 overs, finishing at 192/5 to seal a five-wicket victory with five balls to spare. For the Royals, Suprieyo Chakraborty, only the third bowler in the league to claim a five-wicket haul, bowled a magnificent spell of 5/29 in vain.

The second encounter of the day saw another batting masterclass as the Jamshedpur Steelers posted a formidable total of 202/6 with Adarsh Giri (41) and Kumar Debobrat (24) performing with the bat. For Dhanbad Diamonds, Shamshed Ahmad led the bowling attack with figures of 4/39, while Atul Singh Surwar chipped in with 2/33.

Facing a mammoth target of 203, Dhanbad Diamonds started their chase with all guns blazing. Openers Ram Raushan Sharan (63) and Vikash Kumar Vishal (58) put on a spectacular 118-run partnership for the first wicket. However, the Steelers' bowlers strangled the Diamonds in the death overs, restricting them to 195/8 in 20 overs to snatch a narrow 7-run victory.

Pratik Ranjan was the star with the ball for Jamshedpur, returning economical figures of 3/27 to turn the tide in the middle overs. Ravi Sharma took 2/24 in his 3 overs and the player of the match trophy for his contribution of 30* off 19 balls runs with the bat as well.

--IANS

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