Ahmedabad, Jan 26 : Baba Aparajith (52 not out off 45 balls) and Shahrukh Khan (40 not out off 19) helped Tamil Nadu beat Himachal Pradesh by five wickets in a T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarter-final match here at the Motera on Tuesday.
In the first quarter-final of the day, Punjab had beaten Karnataka by nine wickets.
In Ahmedabad, pace bowler Sonu Yadav picked three wickets for 14 runs in four overs to help Tamil Nadu restrict Himachal Pradesh to 135/9 wickets in 20 overs.Skipper Rishi Dhawan top scored for Himachal with unbeaten 35.
In reply, TN started poorly, losing three wickets for 25 runs in the first four overs.They then lost two wickets when their score was in 60s, Yadav and Dinesh Karthik’s departures leaving the team on 66 for five in the 13th over.
However, Aparajith and Shahrukh took the team home.
Punjab bowled out Karnataka for 87 in 17.2 overs with Siddarth Kaul picking three wickets for 15 runs.Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and Ramandeep Singh picked two wickets each.
In reply, Punjab chased the total, making 89 in 12.4 overs and losing just one wicket.Prabhsimran Singh made 49 not out off just 37 deliveries with three sixes and two fours.Mandeep Singh made unbeaten 35 off 33 deliveries with four fours and a six.The two shared an unbeaten 85-run partnership after Abhishek Sharma was dismissed in the first over of the innings.
Brief scores: 1st quarter-final match: Karnataka 87 all out in 17.2 overs (S Kaul 3/15, Arshdeep 2/16, S Sharma 2/17, Ramandeep 2/22) lost to Punjab 89/1 wkt in 12.4 overs (Prabhsimran 49 not out, Mandeep 35 not out) by 9 wkts
2nd quarter-final match: Himachal Pradesh 135/9 wkt in 20 overs (R Dhawan 35 not out, S Yadav 3/14) lost to Tamil Nadu 141/5 wkts in 17
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