Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 semifinals: Tamil Nadu beats Rajasthan, Karnataka routs Haryana to reach final

Karnataka beats Haryana by 7 wickets in the first semifinal while Tamil Nadu won by 7 wickets against on Rajasthan in the other semifinal to reach the final.

Abhimanyu Mithun (c) picked five wickets in an over, including a hat-trick, his second this season.

 

Semifinal 2 - (Batting) Tamil Nadu vs Rajasthan - End of 2nd innings - Target: 113

• Tamil Nadu wins by 7 wickets and will face Karnataka in a repeat of the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year. Baba Aparajith applies the finishing touch as he finds the third man boundary to wrap things up for Tamil Nadu with 13 balls remaining.
• GIVEN OUT! Dinesh Karthik is trapped leg before by Aniket Choudhary. Washington Sundar gets his fifty in 43 balls. His contribution up the order has been vital to Tamil Nadu's chase. Tamil Nadu needs 8 from 21 balls.
• SIX! Tamil Nadu cruising to the target as Karthik's arrival has ensured the scoreboard keeps ticking. Washington Sundar goes big once again as he hits Ravi Bishnoi over the mid-wicket boundary. Tamil Nadu needs 14 runs off 24 balls.
• OUT! Ravichandran Ashwin goes leg side in Chandrapal Singh's bowling but ends up giving Ankit Lamba at mid-wicket an easy catch. Tamil Nadu 70/2 in 11 overs, needs 43 off 54 balls.
• FOUR! TN getting a move on here. Ravi Ashwin, first makes room on the offside as he guides Khaleel Ahmed's good length ball towards the third-man boundary and then hits him down the line for another four. Tamil Nadu 62/1 in 9 overs, needs 51 off 66 balls.
• SIX! Washington Sundar targets the mid-wicket area as he clears the ropes in Ravi Bishnoi's bowling. The batting side needs many more of that to be keep the required rate in check. Tamli Nadu 50/1 in 7.4 overs, needs 63 off 74 balls.
• Dinesh Karthik's idea to reverse the batting order by sending in Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar seems to be working to the team's detriment as the powerplay yields just 37 runs. The run rate is just meeting the required but the longer Sundar and Ashwin spend at the crease, the chase will become tricky. Tamil Nadu 40/1 in 6.2 overs.
• DROPPED! Ashwin drives Chahar for a four through the leg side, and then tries to hit the Rajasthan captain through the covers but is lucky as Mahipal Lomror finds it difficult to hold after getting to the ball with an acrobatic effort. Tamil Nadu 18/1 in 3.2 overs.
• Ashwin gets the first runs with a boundary towards backward point as he rolls back the years when he began his domestic career as an opener for Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu 7/1 after 2 Overs.
• Chahar begins with a maiden and wicket! Deepak Chahar gets an inside off C. Hari Nishanth who plays on to his stumps and returns to the pavilion for a duck. Dinesh Karthik takes a gamble as he promotes R. Ashwin as the opener. Tamil Nadu 0/1 in 1 Overs.

Semifinal 2 - (Toss) Tamil Nadu vs Rajasthan (Batting) - End of 1st innings

• Tamil Nadu set a target of 113. Chandrapal Singh goes for 15 off 12 balls while Ravi Bishnoi (23 not out off 28 balls) hits two more boundaries as Vijay Shankar gets his second run out off the innings with the last ball. Rajasthan 112/9 in 20 Overs.
• 100 up for Rajasthan! Chandrapal Singh plays an audacious scoop shot over the keeper head for a boundary as Rajasthan crosses the three-figure mark. M. Siddharth misjudges the bounce near the boundary as the Rajasthan batsmen run three to take the score to 104/7 in 18 Overs.
• FOUR! Chandrapal Singh smacks Murugan Ashwin for a boundary over long-on as Rajasthan gets closer to the 100-run mark. Rajasthan 95/7 in 17 Overs.
• R. Ashwin joins the party! Ravichandran Ashwin joining the attack in the 14th over shows the depth of Tamil Nadu's bowling riches and the off-spinner gets off the mark with an LBW of keeper-batsman Manendra Singh. Rajasthan 76/7 in 13.3 Overs.
• Bishnoi departs! There is no respite for Rajasthan as the only set batsman Rajesh Bishnoi (23 off 22 balls) plays it straight to Baba Aparajith at mid-off in M. Siddharth's bowling. Rajasthan 69/6 in 12.2 Overs.
• FIVE DOWN! Second wicket of the night for Vijay Shankar. Salman Khan misjudges the length and gets an outside edge which falls for an easy catch to Baba Aparajith at short mid-wicket. Rajasthan 63/5 in 11.1 Overs.
• Vijay Shankar Strikes! Vijay Shankar strikes in his first over as Arjit Gupta gives away an easy catch to Baba Aparajith at square leg. Tamil Nadu's depth in bowling has come to the fore against Rajasthan, which is not a batting-heavy line up. Karthik is rotating his options which is making it more difficult for the batsmen to read  the bowling. Rajasthan 57/4 after 10 overs.
• Things are getting tough for Rajasthan. Natarajan gives away just one run and bowls five dots, including a wicket of Mahipal Lomror, in his eighth over. Rajasthan 47/3 after 8 Overs.
• OUT! Mahipal Lomror steps out of the crease to face T. Natarajan's short-pitched ball and gets a huge outside edge which lands safely in keeper Dinesh Karthik's gloves. Rajasthan 47/3 after 7.2 Overs.
• SIX! A fuller length delivery by Sai Kishore and Rajesh Bishnoi smashes it over the square-leg boundary. Rajasthan 37/2 after 5 Overs.
• GONE! It takes a brilliant catch on the boundary by Murugan Ashwin to get rid of the dangerous Ankit Lamba. The opener goes for a lofted shot over deep mid-wicket as Ashwin judges it well and falls backwards as he takes the catch. He manages to keep away from boundary rope and Washington Sundar has his first wicket. Rajasthan 27/2 after 4 Overs.
• FOUR and WICKET! Deepak Chahar clears his front leg and smokes Sai Kishore over the deep mid-wicket boundary. He tries to play Sai Kishore's next ball with the turn and misses it completely as it runs through his defence and hits the stumps. Rajasthan 23/1 after 2.3 overs.
• Good start by the Rajasthan openers Deepak Chahar and Ankit Lamba who starts with two fours off R. Sai Kishore's opening over. Rajasthan 10/0 after 1 over.

Playing XIs

• TOSS: Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik wins the toss and elects to bowl.
• Welcome back to our live coverage of the second semifinal between Tamil Nadu and Team Rajasthan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Super League.

Our Correspondent S. Dipak Ragav previews the second semifinal between Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan

Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu takes on Rajasthan in the second semifinal and would want to continue its good run in white-ball cricket having topped its group.

TN will start as the favourite but with the match starting at 6.30 pm, the toss will become a crucial factor as the side chasing is bound to have an advantage as dew could affect the team bowling second. It is an area where Rajasthan can neutralise a spin-heavy TN attack.

During its loss to Karnataka last week, the TN bowlers found it difficult to hold the ball while defending. On Thursday, TN went the extra mile in its preparation by shunning nets and instead opting to practice on the centre wicket at the C.B. Patel stadium. Spinners R. Sai Kishore and Hari Nishanth practised with wet balls, while the batsmen used the time for big-hitting targeting specific areas in the field.

For Rajasthan, skipper Deepak Chahar along with his fast bowlers Khaleel Ahmed and Aniket Choudhary need to take advantage of TN’s opening woes and get quick wickets before leg-spinner Rahul Chahar can apply the squeeze in the middle overs.

• Stay tuned as the second semifinal between Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan will kickoff in an hour from now.
• So Karnataka enters final and either Tamil Nadu or Rajasthan will join them for the final on Sunday.
• Karnataka win by eight wickets with five overs to spare. First it was Abhimanyu Mithun who picked five wickets, including a hat-trick and then KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal simply tore apart the Haryana bowling by smashing half-centuries.
• There's the winning runs and what a chase this has been from the defending champions.
• WICKET - Devdutt Padikkal departs but what a knock he has played. He departs for a 42-ball 87 and along with KL Rahul made a mockery of the chase.
• The fifty-run partnership between Devdutt Padikkal and Mayank Agarwal is up in 22 deliveries.
• Skipper Mishra brings himself back into the attack and he is dealt with utter disdain as Devdutt Padikkal smokes him for a maximum. Karnataka 172/1 after 13 overs.
• Haryana is left chasing leather as Devdutt Padikkal tears into Jayant Yadav as Karnataka all but sure book their place in the final. Amit Mishra has clearly run out of options.
• Mayank Agarwal is in business straightaway as he hits back to back sixes and Amit Mishra is facing the music. This is brutal hitting from the Karnataka batsmen. Rahul's fall has no bearing what so ever. Karnataka 145/1 after 11.1 overs
• Mayank Agarwal is the new man in.
• WICKET - Jayant Yadav ends KL Rahul's stay at the crease but he has done the damage. A 31-ball 66 and Karnataka now requires 69 runs in 62 deliveries.
• Fifty for Devdutt Padikkal - Brilliant knock by the tournament's highest run-getter and he is in dream form at the moment. Just took 24 balls to raise his fifty and has played some lovely shots en route to the landmark. Haryana skipper Amit Mishra is running out of ideas.
• The 100 is up in just 7.3 overs and the Karnataka openers are plundering runs on a belter of a track. There's nothing in the pitch for the bowlers and Haryana are slowly losing grip.
• Fifty for Rahul - Excellent batting by the India international and he is oozing class. Brings up his fifty in 21 balls with the help of five sixes and four boundaries. He seems to be in a hurry to finish the run chase.
• SIX - Excellent footwork from KL Rahul as he comes down the track and smacks Chahal for two back to back sixes. Karnataka 68/0 after 5 overs.
• Spin into attack and this should be interesting. It will be Yuzvendra Chahal to KL Rahul.
• KL Rahul is opening up nicely here as he has taken a liking to Ashish Hooda. Starts the over with an audacious six and then hits the bowler for three boundaries in a row.
• KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal have given a sound start and Haryana needs to pick early wickets given the depth of batting Karnataka has. Karnataka 26/0 after 3 overs.
• SIX - What a pick up shot from KL Rahul. On the pads and Rahul flicks it over backward square leg for a maximum.
• Alright we are back for the chase with KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal out there in the middle. Harshal Patel to start the proceedings with the new ball. 
• What a match this is turning out to be. It was all Haryana till the 19th over and then Abhimanyu Mithun picked five wickets in an over including a hat-trick. Haryana, though, would believe that they can defend 194. But they need to bowl well against a star-studded Karnataka side that will fancy its chances of chasing down the total. Back in a while.
• Abhimanyu Mithun picks five wickets in an over as Haryana post 194 for the loss of eight wickets.
• Hat-trick for Abhimanyu Mithun, his second this season. Bowling the last over, Mithun first dismissed Himanshu Rana and then went on to dismiss Rahul Tewatia and Sumit Kumar. He further went on to claim his fourth wicket by dismissing Amit Mishra.
• WICKET - Himanshu Rana falls but what a knock he has played. A fine 61 off just 34 deliveries.
• Haryana crosses the 190-run mark and with an over to go, can they get to 200? Certainly with the way Rana is batting.
• Fifty for Himanshu Rana - This has been an entertaining knock and he gets to his fifty with a magnificent six straight over the bowler's head. Wonderful batting
• Himanshu Rana and Rahul Tewatia bring up their fifty-run partnership and gear up for the final charge. Rana, in particular, has been outstanding in his shot selection.
• The 150 is up for Haryana and this has been clever batting from Himanshu and Tewatia. While the former has been innovative in his shot making, the latter has banked on picking singles and occasionally finding the boundaries.
• The fall of Chaitanya Bishnoi has slowed down the scoring rate and a lot will depend on Himanshu Rana as we enter the final five overs. Haryana 135/3 after 15 overs.
• WICKET - Against the run of play and Chaitanya Bishnoi has to depart for a well-made 55. There was never a single there and Manish Pandey fires in a sharp throw as KL Rahul does the rest. Haryana 114/3 after 13 overs.
• Fifty for Chaitanya Bishnoi - Brilliant batting from the Haryana opener and he brings up  his fifty in style by smacking Krishnappa Gowtham for a maximum. He is looking like a man on mission and the Haryana dugout is extremely pleased.
• The 100 comes up with a classic inside out cover drive from Himanshu Rana.
• At the halfway stage, Haryana is 92/2 going at about 9.2 runs per over with Chinmaya Bishnoi nearing his half-century.
• WICKET - Shreyas Gopal strikes again and this time removes Shivam Chauhan. Pitched in line, Chauhan goes for the sweep but misses the ball and that was plumb. No hesitation from the umpire. Haryana 76/2 after 8.2 overs.
• WICKET - Shreyas Gopal strikes and Karun Nair takes a brilliant catch. Harshal Patel tried to smoke Gopal out of the park, got the elevation but just not the right distance. Nair positions himself just inches ahead of the rope and takes the catch cooly.
• End of Powerplay - Fantastic session for Haryana and with the ball coming nicely on to the bat, both openers are looking in good form. Haryana 64/0 after 6 overs.
• The team's 50 is up and this has been a solid start for Haryana. Both batsmen are not afraid to play their shots and punish the loose deliveries. Karnataka in desperate need for a breakthrough.
• Haryana is dealing in boundaries at the moment and runs are coming thick and fast.  
• Excellent batting from Harshal Patel as he collects back-to-back boundaries off Ronit More with an excellent cover drive to end the over. Haryana 14/0 after 2 overs.
• Direct Hit and he was gone! Massive mix-up between Harshal Patel and Chaitanya Bishnoi but both batsmen are safe. Patel punches off the backfoot, calls for a single and then hesitates but Bishnio takes off and the fielder misses the direct hit. Eventful over.
• FOUR - First runs on the board and Chaitanya Bishnoi opens his account with a boundary. There was width on offer and Bishnio cuts hard over the deep backward point region to get things going.
• Play is the call and we are all set for Live action to begin.
• Karnataka is further bolstered by the inclusion of Mayank Agarwal and it's a star-studded line-up.
• This should be a cracker of a contest and technically speaking, it's the Karnataka batting might versus Haryana's bowling.

Playing XI

Haryana: Chaitanya Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Shivam Chauhan, Himanshu Rana, Jitesh Saroha(w), Sumit Kumar, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra(c), Jayant Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Hooda

Karnataka: Lokesh Rahul(w), Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey(c), Karun Nair, Rohan Kadam, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, V Koushik, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ronit More

Toss: Karnataka won the toss and has elected to bowl first against Haryana in the first semifinal.

 

After 19 days and 151 T20 matches, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka qualified for the semifinals of the 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with defending champion Mumbai knocked out on the basis of an inferior net run-rate after finishing level on points with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in Super League Group B.

Haryana marched into the semifinals after topping Super League Group A. The Amit Mishra-led side notched up 12 points by winning three of its four matches. Its only loss came against Maharashtra on the final day of the Super League stage, where it fell short by two runs.

Rajasthan, on the other hand, took a tougher route there. At the end of this stage, it was tied at second with eight points after two wins and two losses. Courtesy of a better net run-rate, it pipped Maharashtra to a place in the semifinals.

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In Group B, Tamil Nadu finished on top with 12 points after three wins. Its solitary loss came against Karnataka, which defended its total of 161. Karnataka progressed through to the semifinals owing to a better net run-rate.

Mumbai defeated Punjab by 22 runs after scoring 243 in the final Super League game  and would have qualified in place of Karnataka had it restricted Punjab to under 150.

So, who plays who?

Haryana will take on Karnataka in semifinal 1 while Tamil Nadu will face Rajasthan in semifinal 2.

When will the semifinals be played?

Both semifinals will take place on Friday, November 29.

At what time will the semifinals take place?

Semifinal 1 between Haryana and Karnataka will start place at 2:30pm.

Semifinal 2 between Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan will start at 6:30pm.

Where will the semifinals be played?

Both semifinals will be played at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat.

When will the final be played?

The winner of semifinal 1 and 2 will meet in the final on Sunday, December 1 at 7pm at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat.

Where to watch?

The matches will be streamed live on Hotstar.