SMAT round-up : Punjab, Vidarbha, Saurashtra secure quarter-final berth

Gill struggles but Prabhsimran, Abhishek Sharma power Punjab to easy win

Brief scores: Punjab 176/7 (20.0) beat Haryana 127/9 (20) by 49 runs

Punjab cruised into the quarter-final of the 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after easing past Haryana, beating the Himanshu Rana-led side by a 49-run margin.

Haryana won the toss and opted to bowl and they struck early, with Mohit Sharma removing Shubman Gill for 4 (10). However, the wicket of Gill turned out to be a false dawn for Haryana, as they were ravaged by the duo of Abhishek Sharma (55* off 48 balls) and Prabhsimran Singh (64 off 36 balls). The duo’s 100-run stand, along with Anmolpreet Singh’s cameo (20 off 9 balls), propelled Punjab to 176.  For Haryana, Mohit Sharma (1/23) enjoyed a fine outing, but Jayant Yadav (0/38), Amit Mishra (0/30) and Rahul Tewatia (0/20) all traveled. 

Haryana didn’t put up a fight in the second innings as they only managed 127/9. Barring Nishant Sindhu (42 off 25 balls), no other batter passed the 25-run mark. Sid Kaul (2/29), Abhishek Sharma (1/19) and Mayank Markande (2/32) were all among the wickets. 

Punjab will now take on Karnataka in the quarter-finals, at the Eden Gardens on November 1.

Umesh Yadav three-fer helps Vidarbha overcome Chhattisgarh

Brief scores: Vidarbha 112/5 (18.4) beat Chhattisgarh 111/9 (20) by 5 wickets

Umesh Yadav took his second three-wicket haul of the 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to help Vidarbha restrict Chhattisgarh to 111. Umesh, interestingly, did not strike inside the powerplay, but accounted for the wickets of two of the three Chhattisgarh batters: Amandeep Khare and skipper Harpreet Singh. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Shashank Singh featured for Chhattisgarh but he couldn’t do much, managing 2 off his first 6 balls before getting run out. Umesh’s three-fer, coupled with Aditya Sarwate’s fine spell (1/15), ensured Chhattisgarh finished their 20 overs on 111/9.

In response, Vidarbha struggled, but they eventually got home with eight balls to spare thanks to a fine 63 from opener Sanjay Raghunath. Punjab Kings’ Jitesh Sharma batted uncharacteristically slow (14 off 14 balls), but crucially, he remained unbeaten to take his side home.

Vidarbha will take on Delhi in the quarter-final.

Jackson half-century defy Samson, Sachin efforts

Brief Scores : Saurashtra 183/3 (Jackson 64) beat Kerala 174-4 by 9 runs

In another pre-quarterfinal game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Saurashtra got the better of Kerala by nine runs to secure their berth in the quarter-finals. 

Batting first, Saurashtra scored 183/6, riding on a majestic half-century from Sheldon Jackson. The Saurashtra talisman held one end up and found able support from Samarth Vyas (34) and Vishvaraj Jadeja (31) to help the side reach a competitive total. With the batting line-up that Kerala had, it was not impossible for them to track down the total but slow scoring didn’t help their cause.

Sanju Samson forged a 98-run partnership with Sachin Baby but the former was dismissed by Prerak Mankad for 59 off 38 balls, and Baby couldn’t control the pace single-handedly. Eventually they fell nine runs short of the target.

Saurashtra will be taking on Mumbai in the quarter-final.