The script deviated marginally on Saturday evening. With a number of attacking batsmen in the line-ups — Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli — a run-fest was on the cards, but the first semi-final of the Corporate Trophy between ONGC and Air India Red turned out to be a debate over walking. Unheralded Sushant Marathe scored an unbeaten 80 off 106 balls, after deciding against walking back despite a clear edge off Sarandeep Singh, as Air India Red chased down 214 with five wickets in hand to enter the final.

Red’s Marathe was on 29 when umpire Subrat Das didn’t notice the nick. The Mumbai left-hander hit eight boundaries, and along with Ankeet Chavan (41 off 45) took the team to victory. Marathe, unabashedly, summed it up after the match: “I used to walk earlier, but I kept getting bad decisions. So I decided to do my job and let the umpires do theirs.”

Chasing the modest target, Uthappa scored 45 from 49 after Raina was dismissed by Sarandeep for 4. Air India skipper Yuvraj went back after making 6. The off-spinner then removed Hrishikesh Kanitkar but the introduction of part-timer Tanmay Srivastava backfired as Red went on to seal the victory in the 40th over.

Earlier, Gambhir and Kohli walked in after Dhaval Kulkarni dismissed ONGC openers Praveen Kumar and Sandeep Sharma.

The Delhi batsmen used their heads and feet, adding 92 runs for the third wicket. Kohli met a tame end at 46, spooning a return catch to Yuvraj while Gambhir went on to make 63. But for Srivastava, who scored 29, no other batsman made any purposeful stay. Pacer Mun Mangela picked up two quick wickets to trigger the late-order collapse and it took a 20-run last-wicket partnership between Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel to get ONGC’s total beyond 200. Kulkarni was the most successful bowler with three wickets for 40.

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