Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Himachal Pradesh beat Punjab by 13 runs to enter final

Sent
into
bat,
Sumeet
slammed
three
fours
and
as
many
maximums
in
his
25-ball
51,
while
Akash
Vasisht
scored
43
off
24
balls,
laced
with
four
hits
to
the
fence
and
two
sixes
to
steer
HP
to
176
for
7.

In
response,
Shubman
Gill
made
a
32-ball
45
at
the
top
while
Anmol
Preet
Singh
(30),
Mandeep
Singh
(29)
and
Ramandeep
Singh
(29)
tried
their
bit
but
it
wasn’t
enough
as
they
were
limited
to
163-7
in
their
20
overs.

Dhawan
did
most
of
the
damage
for
Himachal
as
he
produced
the
first
breakthrough,
dismissing
opener
Abhishek
Sharma
(1),
Pukhraj
Mann
(10)
and
Ramandeep.
Mayank
Dagar
(2/27),
Kanwar
Abhinay
Singh
(1/27)
and
Akash
Vasisht
(1/8)
were
also
among
wickets.

Himachal,
the
2021-22
Vijay
Hazare
Trophy
winners,
were
32
for
2
in
the
powerplay
but
Sumeet
and
Akash
then
put
on
45
off
23
balls
to
take
the
team
close
to
the
100-mark.
Once
Sumeet
fell
to
Sanvir
Singh
in
the
13th
over,
Akash
took
the
onus
on
himself
and
added
another
47
off
27
with
Pankaj
Jaswal
(27)
to
lift
them
to
a
competitive
total.

Jaswal
clobbered
two
fours
and
a
six
in
his
16-ball
cameo.
Chasing
the
total,
Punjab
innings
never
got
going.
Gill
looked
solid
at
the
top
as
he
had
seven
hits
to
the
fence
and
a
six
in
his
innings
but
once
he
was
gone,
Punjab
had
slipped
to
61
for
3
in
the
10th
over.

Anmolpreet
tried
to
resurrect
the
chase
but
by
the
time
he
was
back
in
the
hut,
Punjab
had
lost
half
their
side
for
103
in
the
15th
over.
Skipper
Mandeep
and
Ramandeep
conjured
up
hopes
of
a
turnaround
with
a
38-run
stand
but
it
was
too
little
too
late
in
the
end.

Brief
Scores:

Himachal
Pradesh:
176
for
7
in
20
overs
(S
verma
51,
A
Vasisht
43;
Abhishek
Sharma
2/20,
Sanvir
Singh
2/17)
beat

Punjab:
163
for
7
in
20
overs
(Shubman
Gill
45;
Rishi
Dhawan
3/25).