Pentasoft ousted Canara Bank by two wickets to enter the semifinals of the Moin-ud-Dowlah Cup in Hyderabad on Friday. With ONGC having withdrawn from the tournament, this Group D encounter was a cut throat game at the ECIL ground, both protagonists having beaten Hyderabad Districts, the only other team in the group. Brothers S Ramesh and S Mahesh were the leading participants in the Pentasoft run-chase as the Chennai based software company reached their target of 200 with seven balls to spare.

In the morning session, the bankmen after being put in to bat, made 199/9. This was a palpable recovery for they had been lost four wickets for 30 at one stage, including the important scalp of Vijay Bharadwaj for 11. But the lower order applied themselves to the task of batting out the full 50 overs. Sunil Joshi (29) and Somasekhar Shiraguppi (31) commenced the rearguard action. And it was completed with gusto by Srinivas Murthy who remained undefeated on 46 (53 balls, 4 fours) and skipper Venkatesh Prasad who revealed some hitherto unrevealed flair with the bat with a run-a-ball 24. S Mahesh and S Satish both had identical figures of 2/30.

In reply, Openers M Arvind and S Ramesh added 62 for the first wicket and skipper Ramesh in the company of SS Das compiled another 58 for the second. At 134/2 Pentasoft were sitting pretty but the loss of three wickets (Ramesh, Kanitkar and Jaffer Ashiq) in the space of four overs left them slightly perturbed at 139/5. Ramesh's 59 was a quickfire effort, coming off 71 balls and inclusive of eight boundaries. Although C Raghu (4/30) kept Pentasoft on their toes, Mahesh (43 not out, 60 balls, 4 fours) retained his composure to see Pentasoft home from the last ball of the penultimate over and round off a good match for him.

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