Shubman Gill displayed his sensational stroke-play to get his maiden T20 century as Punjab recorded a slim nine-run victory over Karnataka in the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 1.
Punjab will lock horns with Himachal Pradesh, while Vidarbha will take on Mumbai in the semifinals on Thursday.
After Punjab chose to bat, Gill struck a 55-ball 126 to guide his team to a massive 225 for four. Karnataka replied well before coming up short. Making amends to his approach, Gill shone at his one-time IPL ‘home’.
As the ball moved initially, Gill took his time to settle down before opening his arms. It was a class act from the 23-year-old, who relied on his exquisite timing and flexible wrists to gather runs on both sides.
Gill, dropped on 34, hammered 11 fours and nine lovely sixes, including some stunning drives straight down the ground. He added 151 runs with Anmolpreet Singh (59, 43b, 9x4) and strengthened Punjab from 10 for two.
Karnataka stumbled early, losing three wickets for 18, before Manish Pandey (45, 29b, 5x4, 2x6) and Chethana L.R. (33, 25b, 4x4, 1x6) contributed 71 runs.
Abhinav Manohar (62 n.o., 29b, 5x4, 5x6) and K. Gowtham (30 n.o., 14b, 2x4, 2x6) gathered 75 to fight valiantly till the end before accepting defeat. Siddharth Kaul bowled tidily to play a crucial role in restricting Karnataka.
Shivam Dube’s all-round showing (one wicket and 25 n.o., 13b, 3x4, 1x6) took Mumbai home in a tight finish against Saurashtra. Mumbai overhauled a target of 167 with two wickets and three balls to spare.
A 112-run partnership between Akash Vashisht (76 n.o., 42b, 5x4, 5x6) and Nikhil Gangta (50, 37b, 3x4, 2x6) enabled Himachal Pradesh to beat host Bengal by four wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish.
In another nail-biting contest, Vidarbha benefitted from medium pacer Yash Thakur’s four-wicket haul to defend 157 for five and secure a one-run victory over a star-studded Delhi.
The scores
At Eden Gardens: Punjab 225/4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 126, Anmolpreet Singh 59, V. Kaverappa 3/44) bt Karnataka 216/6 in 20 overs (Abhinav Manohar 62 n.o., Manish Pandey 45, Chethana L.R. 33, Gowtham K. 30 n.o.).
Saurashtra 166/8 in 20 overs (Prerak Mankad 61, Sheldon Jackson 31, Tushar Deshpande 3/37) lost to Mumbai 168/8 in 19.3 overs (Shreyas Iyer 40, Sairaj Patil 31, Chetan Sakariya 4/33).
At Jadavpur University ground: Vidarbha 157/5 in 20 overs (A.V. Wadkar 63, S.R. Ramaswamy 31) bt Delhi 156/6 in 20 overs (Yash Dhull 39 n.o., Shikhar Dhawan 37, Yash Thakur 4/29)
At 22 Yards ground: Bengal 199/6 in 20 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 59, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury 32 n.o., K.D. Singh 4/47) lost to Himachal Pradesh 200/6 in 20 overs (Akash Vashisht 76 n.o., Nikhil Gangta 50).
