Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017-18: Punjab beat Karnataka in Super Over; Rishabh Pant continues hot form
In a scintillating Group A match at Kolkata's Jadavpur University Campus Second Ground, Punjab and Karnataka played out a tie before Mandeep Singh ensured Punjab edged past their opponents in the Super Over.
Harbhajan Singh won the toss and inserted Karnataka to which his bowlers his responded wonderfully. Karnataka were three down at the end of the fifth over with in-form openers Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair back in the hut. Manpreet Gony removed Agarwal and then Krishnappa Gowtham cheaply as Punjab had them 3 down for 35. The recovery was started by Ravikumar Samarth and wicket-keeper Chidhambaram Gautam.
They stabilised the innings with a patient stand of 64 before Harbhajan accounted for Samarth for 31. By the time Gautam departed for a 31-ball 36, Karnataka had lost 6 for 102 which soon became 111/7 with Baltej Singh picking out Gautam and Stuart Binny. But after that, number seven Aniruddha Joshi and captain Vinay Kumar frustrated Punjab to push Karnataka's total in the remaining three and a half overs. Joshi blasted 40* off 19 balls – that included 6 fours and a six – while Vinay Kumar got 15* from 9 with a four and a six each. That propelled the score to 158/7 with Baltej finishing with 3/21.
The Punjab chase began in exciting fashion with Harbhajan promoting himself to number three and smashing 33 from 19 balls. Opener Mandeep got 45 in a knock of seven fours and a six and Yuvraj Singh contributed 29. But they suffered a collapse of their own when 82/1 became 128/6. Sreenath Aravind rocked Punjab's middle-order with four wickets, including that of Mandeep and Yuvraj. When Sharad Lumba left for 20, Punjab still needed 12 from 8 balls with two wickets in hand. Eventually, the ninth scalp came with three balls remaining and Punjab also ended on 158/9.
In the Super Over, though, Punjab made 15, courtesy of Mandeep again, after which Karnataka managed only 11 off Siddarth Kaul's medium pace to leave Punjab eventual winners by 4 runs.
On the other hand, in a Group B match, Rishabh Pant fired his fourth successive quickfire fifty to help Delhi easily hunt down 146 against Tamil Nadu with a 33-ball 58 with 7 fours and 3 sixes.
Brief Scores:
Group A
Punjab 158/9 in 20 overs (Mandeep 45; Aravind 4/32, Dubey 2/12) tied with Karnataka 158/7 in 20 overs (A Joshi 40*, Gautam 36; Baltej 3/21)
[Punjab 15/0 in 1 over (Mandeep 10*, Yuvraj 5*) beat Karnataka 11/0 in 1 over (Nair 8*, A Joshi 2*) by 4 runs in Super Over]
Mumbai 170/5 in 20 overs (Lad 46, Tare 45; Surwar 2/35) beat Jharkhand 157/7 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 81, S Tiwary 32; Parkar 2/32) by 13 runs
Group B
Delhi 146/2 in 15.2 overs (Pant 58, Rana 34*; Washington 2/32) beat Tamil Nadu 145/7 in 20 overs (Shankar 57*, Aparajith 45; Khejroliya 4/26) by 8 wickets
Baroda 149/9 in 20 overs (Solanki 26; Sayan 3/36, M Tiwary 2/25) beat Bengal 132 in 19.5 overs (Goswami 58; K Pandya 3/14, Meriwala 3/26) by 17 runs