Karnataka to face Tamil Nadu in the finals of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019

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Picture Courtsey: Free Press Journal

It was a great day of cricket as Karnataka will face against Tamil Nadu in the finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019. Thanks to Abhimanyu Mithun 5 wickets in last over and KL Rahul, Paddikal brilliance, Karnataka defeated Haryana by 8 wickets.

A superb bowling effort by Tamil Nadu restricted Rajasthan to a modest total and Washington Sundar 54 not out helped TN to chase down this target with ease.

Karnataka versus Haryana

The defending Champions Karnataka hammered Haryana in the first semi-finals of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019/20 played at Lalabhai Contractor Stadium, Surat on Friday.

Karnataka captain Manish Pandey won the toss and decided to field first. Haryana openers Harshal Patel and Chaitanya Bishnoi showed their positive intent right from word go putting pressure on Karnataka new ball bowlers. At the end of first six overs, Haryana openers raced to 64 for 0.

Shreyas Gopal got the breakthrough dismissing Harshal Patel for a quick fire 34 off 20 balls. Haryana openers added 67 runs. Gopal struck again to dismiss Shivam Chauhan. Bishnoi and Himanshu Rana took the attack to Karnataka bowlers with big shots. Bishnoi reached his fifty off 32 balls. After reaching his fifty, Bishnoi was run out for well made 55. Bishnoi and Rana added 37 runs for the 3rd wicket.

Rahul Tewatia came to the crease and made the batting look easy with innovative stroke play. Himanshu Rana also played against the pacers and spinners which made Karnataka bowlers think. Rana reached his fifty off 29 balls. In the last over of the innings, Abhimanyu Mithun took wickets of Himanshu Rana, Rahul Tewatia, Sumit Kumar to pick up an hattrick. He then dismissed Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav off the last ball. Mithun gave away just 2 runs and picked up 5 wickets so shift the momentum in favour of Karnataka. Rana and Tewtia added 80 runs for the 4th wicket.

Chasing 195 runs to win, KL Rahul was just in explosive mood taking on Haryana bowlers. Devdutt Paddikal joined in the party with great hitting. At the end of first six overs, Karnataka raced to 82 for 0.

KL Rahul continued his sensational form reaching his fifty off just 21 balls. The youngster Paddikal completed his fifty too off just 24 balls. It was sublime display of batting by Rahul and Paddikal who made the batting look easy. He was finally dismissed for a brilliant 66 off 31 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes. Rahul and Paddikal added 125 runs for the opening wicket in just 9.3 overs.

Mayank Agarwal played a blinder of an innings scoring 30 off 14 balls with 3 sixes. Paddikal played a special knock scoring 87 off 42 balls and was dismissed by Harshal Patel. Paddikal and Mayank added 57 runs for the 2nd wicket. Karnataka cruised to the finals winning by 8 wickets with 5 overs to spare.

Karnataka 195 for 2 in 15 overs ( Devdutt Paddikal 87, KL Rahul 66, Harshal Patel 1/28) beat Haryana 194 for 8 in 20 overs ( Himanshu Rana 61, Chaitanya Bishnoi 55, Abhimanyu Mithun 5/39, Shreyas Gopal 2/23) by 8 wickets.

Tamil Nadu versus Rajasthan

Tamil Nadu defeated Rajasthan by 7 wickets in the 2nd semi-finals played at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium, Surat on Friday. TN captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and decided to field first.

Rajasthan captain Deepak Chahar promoted himself at the top of order and with Ankit Lamba added 23 runs for the opening wicket in just 2.3 overs. Chahar was dismissed by Sai Kishore for 9. In the next over, his partner Ankit Lamba was also dismissed by Washington Sundar. At the end of six overs, Rajasthan were 44 for 2.

After the power play overs, Tamil Nadu bowlers kept it tight and did not allow Rajasthan to score runs easily. Rajesh Bishnoi scored 23 off 22 balls. TN restricted Rajasthan to 112 for 9 in 20 overs. Vijay Shankar was the pick of bowlers with 2 for 13, while Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, M Siddarth, T Natarajan, Ravichandran Ashwin took 1 wicket each.

Chasing down 113 runs to win, Tamil Nadu lost the wicket of Hari Nishanth in the very first over by Deepak Chahar. Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin played the Rajasthan bowlers with caution. At the end of six overs, Tamil Nadu scored 37 for 1.

After the power play overs, Sundar looked in great touch with aggressive shots while Ashwin gave good support to his partner. Chandarpal Singh broke the partnership dismissing Ashwin for 31. Ashwin and Sundar added 68 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Dinesh Karthik came to the crease and hit 17 off 18 balls before being dismissed by Aniket Chaudhary. Sundar reached his fifty off 43 balls. Baba Aparjith hit the winning run to help Tamil Nadu win the match by 7 wickets with 13 balls to spare.

Tamil Nadu 116 for 3 in 17.5 overs ( Washington Sundar 54*, Deepak Chahar 1/11) beat Rajasthan 112 for 9 in 20 overs ( Rajesh Bishnoi 23, Vijay Shankar 2/13) by 7 wickets.

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