Punjab knock out Karnataka

Ahmedabad, Jan. 26: Punjab knocked defending champions Karnataka out from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament as their bowlers set up a comfortable ninewicket win in the first quarterfinal on Tuesday.

In the other quarterfinal, Tamil Nadu defeated Himachal Pradesh comfortably by five wickets.

After restricting Himachal to a lowly 135 for 9, thanks to Sonu Yadav’s 3 for 14, Tamil Nadu rode on fine knocks from Baba Aparajith (52 not out) and Shahrukh Khan (40 not out) to romp home with 2.1 overs to spare.

Punjab first dismissed Karnataka for meagre 87 and then overhauled the target in 12.4 overs in what turned out to be a lopsided contest at the Sardar Patel stadium.

Pacers Siddharth Kaul (3/15) and Sandeep Sharma (2/17) ran through the Karnataka top-order after they were sent in to bat. Karnataka were reeling at 26 for three, after openers Karun Nair (12) and Devdutt Padikkal (11) fell cheaply.

Pavan Deshpande (0) was dismissed off his second ball, as Mayank Markande took a diving catch.

Kaul dismissed both Padikkal and Deshpande in the fourth over.

It soon became 26 for 4 as young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh (2/16) dismissed B. R. Sharath (2), who was caught in the slip cordon.

Allrounder Shreyas Gopal (13), who has often come to Karnataka’s rescue too could not convert his start as he edged to wicket-keeper Prabhsimran Singh off pacer Ramandeep Singh (2/22) as Karnataka lost half their side for 51. Ramandeep got his second wicket when he sent back J. Suchith (8) to leave Karnataka at 72 for 6.

Leggie Mayank Markande (1/12) then got into the act as he cleaned up a well-set Anirudh Joshi (27). Punjab continued their dominance over their opposition and ran through their lower order.

Punjab lost opener Abhishek Sharma (4) early but Prabhsimran Singh (49 not out off 37 balls) and Mandeep Singh (35 not out) ensured that the chase was walk in the park with their 85-run unbeaten stand for the second wicket.

BRIEF SCORES

■ Karnataka 87 in 17.2 overs (Aniruddha Joshi 27, Siddharth Kaul 3/15, Arshdeep Singh 2/16) lost to Punjab 89/1 in 12.4 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 49 n.o, Mandeep Singh 35 n.o).

■ Himachal Pradesh 135 for 9 in 20 overs (Abhimanyu Rana 28, Nitin Sharma 26, Rishi Dhawan 35 n.o, Sandeep Warrier 2/32, Sonu Yadav 3/14) lost to Tamil Nadu 141/5 in 17.5 overs (Baba Aparajith 52 n.o, Shahrukh Khan 40 n.o, Vaibhav Arora 3/30).