Mumbai, Punjab, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Bengal in quarterfinals
Mumbai, Punjab, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Bengal topped their respective groups to advance to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 quarterfinals on Saturday. Despite Uttarakhand opener Avneesh Sudha’s 96 for 96, Mumbai’s bowlers performed well in the odd moments to give their team a thrilling two-run victory. Mumbai had the highest score of 24 points in Group A and went straight to the quarter-finals.
Vidarbha finished second and will have to play in the pre-quarterfinals. In a Group B match at Jaipur, Punjab thrashed Uttar Pradesh by nine wickets with the help of Shubman Gill’s 57 not out and Prabhsimran Singh’s 80 not out. With this big win, Punjab surpassed Delhi in net run rate to take the top spot. Delhi will now have to play in the pre-quarterfinals. Delhi beat Tripura by six wickets with Nitish Rana’s all-round performance. Apart from taking three wickets, Rana also played a strong innings of 61 runs.
Medium pacer Aaqib Nabi became the first J&K bowler to take a hat-trick in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but his team lost to Sena in this Group C match in Mohali. In Group A, Rajasthan defeated Mizoram by 73 runs, while in another match, Assam beat Madhya Pradesh by five wickets.
Vidarbha beat Railways by six wickets. In Group B, Hyderabad defeated Manipur by 10 wickets while Goa registered a six-wicket win after bowling out Puducherry for 88 runs. Meanwhile, in Group C, Maharashtra beat Arunachal Pradesh by 63 runs while Karnataka beat Haryana by five wickets. In another match, Kerala defeated Meghalaya by five wickets. In Group D, Himachal Pradesh beat Nagaland by nine wickets, Baroda beat Andhra by 11 runs and Bihar by four wickets in Gujarat. In Group D, Jharkhand beat Sikkim by 10 wickets, Chhattisgarh beat Odisha by 87 runs and Chandigarh by eight wickets.
