Rain ends Punjab''s chances of making Hazare semis

Bengaluru, October 21

Rain ended Punjab’s Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign as Tamil Nadu made it to the semifinals on the basis of more wins than Punjab in the league phase after their quarterfinal game was cut short by rain. Similarly, Chhattisgarh trumped Mumbai for a place in the semifinals.

Tamil Nadu had won all their nine matches in Group C, while Punjab had won five matches in the group stage. Chhattisgarh had emerged victorious in five out of eight games in Group A, while Mumbai had won four. In the semifinals on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu will take on Gujarat and hosts Karnataka will clash with Chhattisgarh.

Punjab restricted Tamil Nadu to 174/6 in 39 overs when rain stopped play. Tamil Nadu had a shaky start after openers Murali Vijay (22) and Abhinav Mukund (17) failed to convert starts. But the in-form Baba Aparajith came up with a patient 76-ball 56 to pull his side out of trouble. Thanks to Washington Sundar's unbeaten 35 off 39 balls, Tamil Nadu got past the 170-run mark. Punjab were 52/2 in 12.2 overs, having lost opener Abhishek Sharma (6) and Anmolpreet Singh (9), when rain stopped play. The game was eventually called off.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu: 174/6 in 39 overs (Baba Aparajith 56, Washington Sundar 35*, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 2/25); Punjab: 52/2 in 12.2 overs

Chhattisgarh: 190/6 in 45.4 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 83, Amandeep Khare 59*, Dhawal Kulkarni 2/9); Mumbai: 95/0 in 11.3 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 60*, Aditya Tare 31. — PTI