Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Pant stars in Delhi win; Punjab down Karnakata in thriller

Rishabh Pant cracked a fourth successive fifty-plus score to lead Delhi's eight-wicket rout of Tamil Nadu while Baroda, Mumbai and Punjab also secured wins in their respective Super League matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, in Kolkata on Sunday.

Veterans Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh dug deep into their reservoir of experience as star-studded Punjab held their nerves to pip Karnataka via eliminator in a group A match at the Jadavpur University second campus ground.

In the second group A match, Virat Singh's sterling 81 off 49 balls (3x6s, 6x4s) went in vain as Jharkhand faltered while chasing 171 to pave the way for Mumbai's 13-run win.

In the group B fixtures at Eden Gardens, Pant made mockery of the 146-run chase as his 33-ball 58 (7x4s, 3x6s) saw Delhi cruise home with 5.4 overs to spare.

Pant, who hit his sixth T20 half-century, later limped off the ground after sustaining an ankle injury but coach KP Bhaskar said it was minor in nature and he would be available for their match against Baroda on Monday.

Opener Gautam Gambhir, the two-time IPL winning Kolkata Knight Riders skipper who was released this season, made a run-a-ball 21 (2x4s, 1x6) and along with Pant put on 43 runs off 33 balls for the opening wicket.

Put in, Tamil Nadu scored 145 for seven with captain Vijay Shankar leading from the front with a 57 not out off 48 balls (4x4s, 3x6s) and along with Baba Aparajith (45 off 32, 7x4s) put together 92 runs to rescue Tamil Nadu from 37 for 3 in 5.1 overs.

However, it was a heartbreak for home side Bengal, who choked under pressure as Baroda secured a 19-run win under floodlights at the Eden.

Earlier at the JU ground, the scores were tied while chasing 159, and Punjab scored 15 runs in the one-over eliminator with Yuvraj hitting a boundary and Mandeep Singh smacking K Gowtham for a six.

In reply, Karnataka managed just 11 runs with Siddarth Kaul keeping his cool while bowling the super over for Punjab.

Yuvraj was at his vintage best while fielding at square leg region and took two stunning catches to help dismiss Stuart Binny (2) and C M Gautam (36) in one over.

Yuvraj leaked 17 runs while bowling with Gautam (36 off 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, 1x6).

Promoting himself at No 3, Harbhajan struck 33 from 19 balls (5x4s, 1x6) 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.

Brief Scores:

At Jadavpur University ground:

Karnataka: 158 for 7 in 20 overs (Aniduddha Joshi 40, C M Gaut am 36; Baltej Singh 3/21, Manpreet Singh Gony 2/8) tied with Punjab 158 for 9 in 20 overs (Mandeep Singh 45, Harbhajan Singh 33, Yuvraj Singh 29; Sreenath Aravind 4/32). Punjab won in one- over eliminator.

Mumbai: 170 for 5 in 20 overs (Siddhesh Lad 46, Aditya Tare 45, Suryakumar Yadav 33 not out) beat Jharkhand 157 for 7 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 81, Saurabh Tiwary 32) by 13 runs.

At Eden Gardens:

Tamil Nadu: 145 for 7 in 20 overs (Vijay Shankar 57 not out, Baba Aparajith 45, Kulwant Khejroliya 4/26) lost to Delhi 146 for 2 in 15.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 58, Nitish Rana 34 not out, Dhruv Shorey 28 out; Washington Sundar 2/32) by eight wickets.

Baroda: 149 in 20 overs (Vishnu Solanki 26, Deepak Hooda 22; Sayan Ghosh 3/37, Manoj Tiwary 2/25, Kanishk Seth 2/26) beat Bengal 132 in 19.5 overs (Shreevats Goswami 58; Lukman Meriwala 3/26, Krunal Pandya 3/14) by 17 runs.