Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 quarter-finals: Mumbai register 2-wicket win over Saurashtra; Punjab, Vidarbha, and Himachal also qualify for semi-finals

Mumbai beat Saurashtra by two wickets in the fourth Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 quarter-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, November 1. In a close contest, Saurashtra won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted a challenging 166 for eight on the board in their 20 overs.

Saurashtra lost Cheteshwar Pujara for 12 off 10 balls and were in a spot of bother at 72/4 in the 11th over. However, a terrific 61-run knock off just 25 balls from Prerak Mankad lifted the batting side. The blazing innings was studded with seven fours and three sixes. Keeper-batter Sheldon Jackson also contributed 31 off 37 balls. For Mumbai, Tushar Deshpande claimed 3/37, while Mohit Avasthi registered figures of 2/23.

In reply, Mumbai lost Prithvi Shaw for two and Yashasvi Jaiswal for 13. They were three down when Chirag Jani trapped opposition skipper Ajinkya Rahane lbw for 21. Shreyas Iyer (40) and Sairaj Patil (31) then added 63 for the fourth wicket to lift Mumbai.

They, however, lost Sarfaraz Khan for a duck, which was followed up with two more wickets. Shivam Dube (25* off 13), however, held his nerve to take Mumbai home in the last over.

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Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 Quarterfinals: Shubman Gill hammers 126 off 55 as Punjab beat Karnataka by nine runs

In a high-scoring first quarterfinal of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Shubman Gill’s 55-ball 126 led Punjab to a nine-run win over Karnataka.

Punjab were sent in to bat after losing the toss. Gill continued his terrific form with the willow, clubbing 11 fours and nine sixes in his dominating knock. Anmolpreet Singh also contributed 59 off 43 as Punjab posted an impressive 225/4.

Karnataka got off to a horror start in the chase, slipping to 18/3 in the third over. Abhinav Manohar (62* off 29), Manish Pandey (45 off 29), Manoj Bhandage (25 off nine) and Krishnappa Gowtham (30* off 14) combined in Karnataka’s terrific fightback. They still fell short though, finishing on 216/6.

In the second quarter-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 at the Jadavpur University Campus in Kolkata, Vidarbha sneaked home to a one-run win over Delhi. Sent in to bat after losing the toss, Vidarbha posted a competitive 157/5 on the board. Skipper Akshay Wadkar top-scored with 63 off 53, while Shubham Dubey played an impressive cameo of 29* in 13 balls.

Yash Dhull remained unbeaten on 39 for Delhi, but the chasing side ended on 156/6. Delhi needed 10 to win off the last over with six wickets in hand. However, Yash Thakur dismissed Lalit Yadav for 17 and Lakshay Thareja for 4 to finish with excellent figures of 4/29. Aditya Sarwate also excelled with figures of 2/16 from his four overs.

Himachal Pradesh got the better of Bengal by four wickets in the third quarter-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 at the Videocon Academy Ground in Saltair, Kolkata.

Bowling first, Himachal Pradesh conceded 199/6 as Shahbaz Ahmed contributed 59 in 32 for Bengal. Ritwik Chowdhury (32* off 11) and Agniv Pan (28 off 10) also played handy knocks as Bengal put up an impressive batting effort.

In response, Himachal got home off the last ball courtesy of excellent knocks from Akash Vasisht (76* off 42) and Nikhil Gangta (50 off 37). While Vasisht struck five fours and as many sixes, Gangta hit three fours and two maximums before getting run-out.

Punjab will take on Himachal Pradesh in the first semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 on Thursday, November 3. Mumbai will meet Vidarbha in the second semi-final. Both knockout clashes will be played at the Eden Gardens.