Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Ton-up Shubman Gill leads Punjab into quarterfinals; Mumbai Down Saurashtra

Shubman Gill celebrated his T20I call-up for the New Zealand tour in style, scoring his maiden century in the format as Punjab beat Karnataka by nine runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarter-final here on Monday.

The opener batted till the last ball of the final over and posted a career-best 126 for Punjab with 225 for four.

In reply, the two-time champions and last season’s runners-up fought back before being restricted to 216 for six. Punjab will face Himachal Pradesh in the first semi-final at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

Earlier, the 23-year-old Gill, who is all set to make his T20I debut in the upcoming New Zealand tour, made a big statement.

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Making full use of a relief by Karnataka gloveman Lavneeth Sisodia for 34, Gill smashed 50 off 30 balls, and then completed a century in 49 balls.

Overall, he hit 11 fours and nine sixes during an innings which was a mixture of artistry and aggression.

Put, Punjab had a poor start as they lost Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh early on but after that it was all about Gill.

The youngster shared a 151-run partnership with Anmolpreet Singh (59 in 43b) as they reached 161 in 16 overs.

Gill continued in the same vein and was backed well by Sanvir Singh with an unbeaten 27 off 13 balls.

Experienced Manish Pandey took Karnataka 18/3 with a 29-ball 45, and then, Abhinav Manohar slammed them for an unbeaten 62 off 29 balls.

Manoj Bhandage scored 25 off 9 balls, while Manohar and Krishnappa Gautam (30 not out; 14b) brought the equation down to 38 in the last two overs.

But Siddharth Kaul and Harpreet Brar put all their might to win Punjab.

Dhawan falls for 37 as Vidarbha beat Delhi

Chasing a tough target of 158, Vidarbha beat Delhi by just one run in the second quarter-finals at the Jadavpur University’s second campus ground in Salt Lake.

It was Yash Thakur who was the architect of their victory as he bowled a perfect final over to turn the match in his favor, dismissing Lalit Yadav (17) and Lakhse Thareja (4) in three balls.

In the second semi-final, Vidarbha will face Mumbai at the Eden.

Chasing 157 runs, Delhi needed 26 runs in the last two overs and managed to score 16 runs India Fast bowler Umesh Yadav.

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Thakur took two wickets in the last over.

Earlier, Dhawan, who was appointed India’s ODI captain for the tour of New Zealand, got off to a brisk start as he shared a 48-run partnership with Himmat Singh (27).

But Singh became Thakur’s first victim while Dhawan was dismissed by Aditya Sarwate (2/16) in the ninth over as Vidarbha continued to take wickets at regular intervals.

Vidarbha scored 157 for five with captain Akhay Wadkar and scored 63 runs in 53 balls.

Bengal crash out, fail to defend 200 vs Himachal

Bengal suffered a four-wicket loss to Himachal Pradesh in another thrilling encounter in the last-eight.

For Bengal, Shahbaz Ahmed scored 59 runs in 32 balls and scored 199 runs for six wickets.

In reply, Himachal’s Akash Vashisht scored an unbeaten 76 off 42 balls while Nikhil Gangta scored a 37-ball 50 to win the last ball.

Saurashtra Down Mumbai

For Mumbai, Shreyas Iyer scored 40 runs in 30 balls, while Shivam Dubey scored an unbeaten 25 off 13 balls to help Mumbai win by two wickets against Saurashtra.

Prerak Mankad’s explosive knock of 61 runs off 25 balls with the help of seven fours and three sixes took Saurashtra to 166 for eight.

In reply, Mumbai lost two wickets inside the powerplay and skipper Ajinkya Rahane also failed to convert his starts. But Dubey completed the chase with three balls to spare.

Chetan Sakariya (4/33) and Kushang Patel (2/33) were the most successful bowlers.


Brief scores: At Eden Gardens: Punjab 225/4; 20 overs (Shubman Gill 126, Anmolpreet Singh 59; Vidvat Kaverappa 3/44) b Karnataka 216/6; 20 overs (Abhinav Manohar 62 not out, Manish Pandey 45; Ramandeep Singh 2/26) by nine runs.

Saurashtra 166/8; 20 overs (Prerak Mankad 61; Tushar Deshpande 3/37, Mohit Awasthi 2/23) Lost to Mumbai 168/8; 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 40, Shivam Dubey 25 not out; Chetan Sakariya 4/33, Kushang Patel 2/33) by two wickets.

At JU Second Campus: Vidarbha 157/5; 20 overs (Akshay Wadkar 63) b Delhi 156/6; 20 overs (Yash Dhul 39 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 37; Yash Thakur 4/29) by one run.

At Videocon Academy: Bengal 199/6; 20 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 59; Kanwar Abhinay 4/47, Rishi Dhawan 2/40) lost to Himachal Pradesh 200/6; 20 overs (Akash Vashisht 76 not out, Nikhil Gangta 50; Ravi Kumar 2/29) by four wickets.

Semifinal line-up: Punjab vs Himachal Pradesh; Vidarbha vs Mumbai (at Eden Gardens on Thursday).

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