Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Punjab denies Mumbai semifinal spot
Mumbai needed to restrict Punjab to 150 or below which would have ensured a better net run-rate over Karnataka and a place in the semifinal.
Published : Nov 27, 2019 22:41 IST
In the final Super League match on Wednesday evening, Mumbai made a mammoth 243 after Prithvi Shaw (53, 27b, 4x4, 6x6), Suryakumar Yadav (80, 35b, 8x4, 5x6) and Shreyas Iyer (80, 40b, 7x4, 4x6) swatted the Punjab bowlers all around the park giving itself a slim hope of qualifying for the semifinals.
For that, Mumbai needed to restrict Punjab to 150 or below which would have ensured a better net run-rate over Karnataka.
Instead, India’s stars from the 2018 U-19 World Cup, Shubman Gill (78, 38b, 7x4, 5x6) and Abhishek Sharma (47, 29b, 4x4, 3x6) had other ideas as they repaid the favour in kind with their own swashbuckling display to knock Mumbai out of the competition.
Highlights: Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Super League
Even though Punjab eventually fell short by 22 runs, the 84-run opening stand between Abhishek and Gill followed by a 70-run stand between Gill and Gurkeerat Mann took Punjab beyond 150 by the 14th over which ended Mumbai’s hopes and helped Karnataka sleep peacefully.
The result meant Tamil Nadu topped Group B and will take on Rajasthan in its semifinal clash while Karnataka faces off against Haryana in the other semifinal.