Syed Mushtaq Ali: Delhi vs UP, Rajasthan vs Punjab for final spot

Kolkata, Jan 24 - Uttar Pradesh beat Baroda to stay in the hunt for a final berth along with Delhi in Group B, while Rajasthan won three out of three to fix a date with Punjab in another virtual semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket tournament here on Wednesday.

In an inconsequential match under floodlights at the Eden Gardens, talented India batsman Karun Nair struck a superlative 52-ball 100, which glittered with eight fours and seven sixes. Riding his knock, Karnataka posted 201/4 beating a hapless Jharkhand by 123 runs.

The winners of UP versus Delhi at the Jadavpur University and Rajasthan versus Punjab at the Eden Gardens on Thursday will play the final on Friday.

Suresh Raina continued his purple patch with the bat as UP braved a big total to win by seven wickets at the Jadavpur University campus ground in the first match of the day.

Raina, coming off scores of 61 and 126 not out in his two previous innings -- hit a patient 47-ball 56, studded with five fours and two sixes.

Put in to bat, Baroda posted a commanding 192/3 riding opener Urvil Patel's T20 best 96, laced with 12 fours and four sixes. Deepak Hooda also smashed a 25-ball 45 (3x4, 3x6) as Mohsin Khan returned best figures of 2/38 for UP.

In reply, opener Umang Sharma scripted a career-best 95 with Raina extending his golden run to a third successive day. UP won the tie with eight deliveries to spare posting 195/3.

Umang raced to 95 off just 47 balls, his innings ended by a catch by Urvil. By then, Umang had dominated the second-wicket stand of 160.

Raina was dismissed with 33 needed off 24, and Rinku Singh applied the finishing touches with an unbeaten 26 off 11.

In the other match at the same venue, already-out Bengal took Tamil Nadu along with them with a seven-wicket win.

Tamil Nadu, after electing to bat, were restricted to 129/9, with Bengal bowlers Kanishk Seth (3/26), Sayan Ghosh (2/19) and Aamir Gani (2/16) sharing seven wickets among themselves. S. Anirudha was the highest scorer for TN with 37.

Bengal rode Sudip Chatterjee's second consecutive fifty (51 not out) to ease to the target with Writtick Chatterjee (44) also batting well.

At the Eden Gardens, Rajasthan's Mahipal Lomror's 55-ball 74 and seamer Deepak Chahar's three-wicket haul set up their team's 17-run win over Mumbai.

Electing to bat first, Rajasthan finished with 175/6 riding 18-year old Lomror's 74 which was laced with four fours and the same number of sixes. What changed the match in their favour though was Tajinder Singh's quickfire 17-ball 43.

In reply, Mumbai could only manage 158/8 as opener Akhil Herwadkar top-scored for them with a fighting 51-ball 68. Along with Jay Bista (29 off 18), he put on a 54-run stand for the opening wicket before Chahar, who picked up five wickets against Karnataka on Tuesday, dismissed Herwadkar, Shivam Dube and Akash Parkar.

Brief Scores:

Baroda: 192/3 in 20 overs (Urvil Patel 96, Deepak Hooda 45; Mohsin Khan 2/38) vs Uttar Pradesh 195/3 in 18.4 overs (Umang Sharma 95, Suresh Raina 56; Krunal Pandya 1/25, ) by seven wickets. 

Tamil Nadu: 129/9 (Anirudha 37; Kanishk Seth 3/26, Sayan Ghosh 2/19, Aamir Gani 2/16) vs Bengal 134/3 in 16.2 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 51 not out, Writtick Chatterjee 44; V Athisayaraj Davidson 1/16, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh 1/26).

Rajasthan: 175/6 (Mahipal Lomror 74, Tajinder Singh 43; Dhawal Kulkarni 3/35) vs Mumbai: 158/8 (Akhil Herwadkar 68, Suryakumar Yadav 39; Deepak Chahar 3/27, Tajinder 2/21).

Karnataka: 201/4 (Karun Nair 100, Pavan Deshpande 56; Monu Kumar 2/31, Vikash Singh 1/40) vs Jharkhand: 78 all out in 14.2 overs (Vikash Singh 25, Ishan Kishan 18; Sreenath Aravind 2/6, Prasidh Krishna 2/8, Jagadeesha Suchith 2/13, Abhimanyu Mithun 2/23).

IANS