Tamil Nadu on Tuesday defeated Punjab by seven wickets in their final Elite Group A match to book a berth in the knockout phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament in Lucknow. (More Cricket News)
Maharashtra, who beat Goa by 73 runs in another match, also qualified from the group as the second-placed team. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra recorded four wins each to finish with 16 points but the former took the top position on the basis of having beaten Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co in their meeting.
While TN will qualify for the quarterfinals as a group topper, Maharashtra will feature in the pre-quarterfinals having qualified as the second-place team. Skipper Vijay Shankar hammered a 40-ball 59 not out (3x4, 4x6) while N Jagadeesan 67 (47 balls, 6x4, 3x6) too found form as Tamil Nadu overhauled the target of 146 in 17.1 overs.
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Earlier, Punjab skipper Mandeep Singh elected to bat and were restricted to 145/6 in 20 overs with only opener Shubman Gill (34, 30 balls, 5x4) and Gurkeerat Singh Mann (43, 30 balls, 2x4, 2x6) making significant contributions.
For Tamil Nadu, medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier was the best bowler with 2/20, while spinners R Sai Kishore (1/20) and B Aparajith (1/18) and seamer T Natarajan (1/43) were the other wicket-takers.
In the Maharashtra-Goa match, Gaikwad missed out on a half-century, falling for 44 while opener Yash Nahar hit a ton (103 not out, 68 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes) to help the team reach 177/3 in 20 overs.
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In reply, Goa was never in the hunt as the Maharashtra bowlers kept striking at regular intervals with left-arm spinner Satyajit Bachhav (3 for 27) doing most of the damage.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra 177/3 in 20 overs (Yash Nahar 103 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 44) beat Goa 104 all out in 18.1 overs (Shubham Ranjane 35, SS Bachhav 3/27, M G Choudhary 2/16) by 73 runs. Maharashtra: 4 points, Goa : 0.
Punjab 145/6 in 20 overs (Gurkeerat Singh Mann 43 not out, Shubman Gill 34, Sandeep Warrier 2/20) lost to Tamil Nadu 148/3 in 17.1 overs (N Jagadeesan 67, Vijay Shankar 59 not out) by seven wickets. TN: 4 points, Punjab: 0.
Odisha 132/7 in 20 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 39, Suboth Bhati 4/27, Bharat Sharma 2/19) lost to Pondicherry 136/4 in 19 overs (Paras Dogra 54 not out, R Ragupathy 39) by six wickets. Pondicherry: 4 points, Odisha: 0.
