Bhajji, Yuvi take Punjab to win
Veterans Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh dug deep into their reservoir of experience as star-studded Punjab held their nerves to pip Karnataka via eliminator in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Super League round.
In the day’s second match at the Jadavpur University second campus ground, Virat Singh’s sterling 81 off 49 balls (3x6s, 6x4s) went in vain, as Jharkhand faltered while chasing 171 to pave the way for Mumbai’s 13-run win. With the scores tied while chasing 159, Punjab scored 15 runs in the one-over eliminator with Yuvraj hitting a boundary and Mandeep Singh smacking K Gowtham for a six.
In reply, Karnataka managed just 11 runs with Siddarth Kaul keeping his cool while bowling the super over for Punjab. Yuvraj was at his vintage best while fielding at square leg region and took two stunning catches to help dismissed Stuart Binny (2) and C M Gautam (36) in one over.
Yuvraj leaked 17 runs while bowling, with Gautam (36 from 31 balls) hitting him for two sixes and one boundary in the 13th over.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 158/7 in 20 overs (A Joshi 40) tied with Punjab 158/9 in 20 overs (Mandeep 45, Harbhajan 33, Yuvraj 29; S Aravind 4/32). Punjab won in eliminator. Mumbai 170/5 in 20 overs (S Lad 46, A Tare 45, SK Yadav 33 not out) beat Jharkhand 157/7 in 20 overs (Virat 81, Sa Tiwary 32) by 13 runs.
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