Mushtaq Ali Trophy: TN beat Punjab by 7 wickets, qualify for knockout phase

Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra recorded four wins each to finish with 16 points but the former took the top position on the basis of having beaten Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co in their meeting.

Tamil Nadu on Tuesday defeated Punjab by seven wickets in their final Elite Group ‘A’ match to book a berth in the knockout phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament.

Maharashtra, which beat Goa by 73 runs in another match, also qualified from the group as the second placed team.

Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra recorded four wins each to finish with 16 points but the former took the top position on the basis of having beaten Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co in their meeting.

While TN will qualify for the quarterfinals as a group topper, Maharashtra will feature in the pre-quarterfinals having qualified as second place team.

Skipper Vijay Shankar hammered a 40-ball 59 not out (3X4, 4X6) while N Jagadeesan 67 (47 balls, 6X4, 3X6) too found form as Tamil Nadu overhauled the target of 146 in 17.1 overs.

Earlier, Punjab skipper Mandeep Singh elected to bat and were restricted to 145 for 6 in 20 overs with only opener Shubman Gill (34, 30 balls, 5X4) and Gurkeerat Singh Mann (43, 30 balls, 2X4, 2X6) making significant contributions.

For Tamil Nadu, medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier was the best bowler with 2 for 20, while spinners R Sai Kishore (1/20) and B Aparajith (1/18) and seamer T Natarajan (1/43) were the other wicket-takers.

In the Maharashtra-Goa match, Gaikwad missed out on a half-century, falling for 44 while opener Yash Nahar hit a ton (103 not out, 68 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixers) to help the team reach 177 for 3 in 20 overs.

In reply, Goa was never in the hunt as the Maharashtra bowlers kept striking at regular intervals with left-arm spinner Satyajit Bachhav (3 for 27) doing most of the damage.

Meanwhile, in-form Deepak Hooda’s quickfire 75 and an impressive show by the bowlers helped Rajasthan notch up a comfortable 30-run win over Haryana in their last Elite C group game and qualify for the knockout stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Tuesday.

Rajasthan topped the group with 20 points after remaining unbeaten in the league stage.

Put in to bat, Rajasthan rode on Hooda’s blistering 75 off 47 balls to post a competitive 155 for six and then bundled out the opposition for 125, with Mohit Jain (4/14) picking four wickets.

Rajasthan lost openers Yash Kothari (3) and Ashok Menaria (0) early and were reeling at 4 for 2.

But then in-form Mahipal Lomror (46) and Hooda steadied the ship with their 87-run stand for the third wicket.

While Lomror hammered five boundaries and a six, Hooda struck five fours and four maximums, as he toyed with the opposition attack.

Once Lomror was trapped in the front of the wicket by rival skipper Harshal Patel, Hooda took the onus on himself and ensured that his bowlers had a decent total to defend.

Chasing 156, Haryana lost skipper Harshal Patel (14) cheaply. His opening partner Chaitanya Bishnoi (41) tried to take the game deep, but did not get support from others, as Rajasthan bowlers kept making in-roads.

Haryana was never on course for a comfortable chase and suffered a middle and lower-middle order collapse. None of their batters even showed a fight, as Rajasthan added another four points to their kitty. For Rajasthan, Jain was well supported by young speedster Kamlesh Nagarkoti (3/25), while Lomror (1/18), Ravi Bishnoi (1/30), Shubham Sharma (1/17) played their parts to perfection.

Brief scores:

Maharashtra 177 for 3 in 20 overs (Yash Nahar 103 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 44) beat Goa 104 all out in 18.1 overs (Shubham Ranjane 35, SS Bachhav 3/27, M G Choudhary 2/16) by 73 runs. Maharashtra: 4 points, Goa : 0.

Punjab 145 for 6 in 20 overs (Gurkeerat Singh Mann 43 not out, Shubman Gill 34, Sandeep Warrier 2/20) lost to Tamil Nadu 148 for 3 in 17.1 overs (N Jagadeesan 67, Vijay Shankar 59 not out) by seven wickets. TN: 4 points, Punjab: 0.

Odisha 132 for 7 in 20 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 39, Suboth Bhati 4/27, Bharat Sharma 2/19) lost to Pondicherry 136 for 4 in 19 overs (Paras Dogra 54 not out, R Ragupathy 39) by six wickets. Pondicherry: 4 points, Odisha: 0.

Rajasthan 155/6 (Deepak Hooda 75, Mahipal Lomror 46; Sumit Kumar 2/28, Harshal Patel 2/42) beat Haryana 125 all out (Chaitanya Bishnoi 41, Mohit Jain 4/14, Kamlesh Nagarkoti 3/25) by 30 runs.

Himachal 148/7 (Raghav Dhawan 57, Prashant Chopra 35; C Stephen 4/11, Manish Golamaru 1/30) beat Andhra 118 all out (Ashwin Hebbar 43, Ricky Bhuvi 41; Pankaj Jaiswal 5/18, Rishi Dhawan 3/16) by 30 runs.

Jammu and Kashmir 156/6 (Jatin Wadhwan 45, Qamran Iqbal 37; Utkarsh Singh 2/22, KR Singh 1/8) lost to Jharkhand 157/5 (Virat Singh 40, Ishank Jaggi 30; Ram Dayal 2/28, Parvez Rasool 1/24) by 5 wickets.

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