Kolkata: Veteran left hand batsman Yuvraj Singh and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh showed their class today as Punjab beat Karnataka in a thrilling contest via eliminator in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy Super League round on Sunday.
In another match at the Jadavpur University ground, Virat Singh’s classy knock of 81 runs off just 49 balls didn’t work in Jharkhand’s favor as they lost to Mumbai by 13 runs.
After the score tied on 159, Punjab sored challenging 15-runs in the in the one-over eliminator where Yuvi hit a boundary and on the other hand K Gowtham for a huge six.
In reply, Karnataka could only manage to score 11 runs as Siddarth Kaul held his nerves in the super over for his side.
Yuvraj was at his very best while fielding at square leg region as he took two brilliant catches and dismissed Stuart Binny (2) and CM Gautam (36) in one over.
Yuvraj leaked 17 runs while bowling, with Gautam (36 from 31 balls) hitting him for two sixes and one boundary in the 13th over.
Earlier, chasing a modest 159 after opting to bowl, Punjab were in control with opener Mandeep Singh laying the foundation with a 29-ball 45 (7x4s, 1×6).
Promoting himself at No. 3, Harbhajan struck 33 from 19 balls (5x4s, 1×6) while Yuvraj’s 29 off 25 balls had five boundaries including a regal cover drive. This was after the Punjab skipper bowled another economical spell, finishing with 1 for 21 in 4 overs.
But Sreenath Aravind (4/32) swung the match in Karnataka’s favour with successive wickets in the 16th over.
Yuvraj edged one to the keeper while in the next ball Abhishek Gupta was also dismissed, edging one to the keeper Gautam, as Punjab required 31 off 26 balls.
Sharad Lumba (20 off 17 balls) kept them in the hunt as 14 runs were needed off the last two overs.
Karnataka once again brightened their prospects after Lumba was out stumped off Pravin Dubey, while Kaul was run out in the last over.
But a boundary off the penultimate ball followed by a two by Sandeep Sharma tied the scores to take the match into the Super Over.
Put in, Karnataka began on a sedate note to reach 62/3 in 10 overs, as Punjab took wickets in regular intervals with the pace duo of Baltej Singh and Manpreet Singh Gony sharing five wickets between them.
Gony was at his tidy best with brilliant figures of 4-2- 8-2, while Baltej Singh claimed 3/21. Aniduddha Joshi smashed an unbeaten 40 off 19 balls to prop up the total.
Joshi clobbered Siddharth Kaul for a six and two fours and in the last over, he continued his assault and hit Sandeep Sharma for successive boundaries.
Veteran R Vinay Kumar finished their innings with a six as Karnataka scored 96 runs in the last 10 overs.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka 158/7; 20 overs (Aniduddha Joshi 40, C M Gautam 36; Baltej Singh 3/21, Manpreet Singh Gony 2/8) tied with Punjab 158/9; 20 overs (Mandeep Singh 45, Harbhajan Singh 33, Yuvraj Singh 29; Sreenath Aravind 4/32). Punjab won in one-over eliminator.
Mumbai 170/5; 20 overs (Siddhesh Lad 46, Aditya Tare 45, Suryakumar Yadav 33 not out) beat Jharkhand 157/7; 20 overs (Virat Singh 81, Saurabh Tiwary 32) by 13 runs.