Ahmedabad, January 27
Punjab knocked defending champions Karnataka out of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after a nine-wicket win in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh suffered last-8 losses in the T20 tournament.
Punjab first dismissed Karnataka for 87 and then overhauled the target in 12.4 overs. Pacers Siddharth Kaul (3/15) and Sandeep Sharma (2/17) ran through the Karnataka top-order after they were sent in to bat. Arshdeep Singh (2/16), Ramandeep Singh (2/22) and leg-spinner Mayank Markande (1/12) were the other wicket-takers.
In reply, Punjab lost opener Abhishek Sharma (4) early but Prabhsimran Singh (49 not out) and Mandeep Singh (35 not out) took the team home.
Solanki shines
Tamil Nadu defeated Himachal Pradesh by five wickets. After restricting HP to 135/9, TN rode on Baba Aparajith’s unbeaten 52 to overhaul the target in 17.5 overs. Vishnu Solanki helped Baroda pull off a heist against Haryana with a 71, which included a six off the game’s final ball, to fire his team into the semifinals. Baroda first restricted Haryana to 148/7 before Solanki hammered four fours and five sixes in his 46-ball unbeaten knock to get his team over the line after 18 runs were needed off the final over. PTI
