KOCHI: Sanju Samson-led Kerala sealed their quarterfinal spot with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh while Karnataka and Vidarbha also entered the final eight of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Tuesday.
Against Himachal, Kerala chased down a target of 145 to set up a showdown with defending champions Tamil Nadu. Mohammed Azharuddeen (60) and Sanju (52 n.o) were the stars as the two stitched together a 98-run partnership for the second wicket to take the game away from Himachal. It was Sanju’s third fifty in the competition and the Rajasthan Royals captain is shouldering the responsibility of captaining the side and finishing games for his team in an admirable fashion.
“He (Sanju Samson) has gone a level up in terms of his batting and mentality. He has been performing with consistency and very important for our side,” said Azharuddeen who was the other hero for Kerala.
Meanwhile, Karnataka secured a two-wicket win over Saurashtra in another pre-quarterfinal tie. In fact, had it not been for debutant Abhinav Manohar, the two-time champions might have had to pack their bags and fly back home. At one stage, they were 60/4 before Manohar took charge and bailed them out.
The right-hander smashed a match-winning 49-ball 70 to keep their hopes alive of clinching the first domestic title of the season.
Karnataka will meet Bengal in the next round after their hard-fought victory. The third pre-quarterfinal of the day was between Vidarbha and Maharashtra with the Akshay Wadkar led side securing a comfortable seven-wicket win. Vidarbha will be taking on Rajasthan for a place in the semi-final.
Batting first, Maharashtra posted 157/8 with Rahul Tripathi top-scoring with 66. Yash Thakur picked up three wickets (3/17) for Vidarbha while Akshay Karnewar got two (2/25). After losing Siddhesh Wath to a duck, Vidarbha took charge of the chase thanks to Atharva Taide (56) and captain Wadkar (58 n.o). Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan said that the Tamil Nadu test would be a big one but they are ready for it.
Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh 145/6 in 20 ovs (R Dhawan 65, P Chopra 36; S Midhun 2/26) lost to Kerala 147/2 in 19.3 in ovs (M Azharuddeen, S Samson 52 n.o) by eight wickets; Maharashtra 157/8 in 20 ovs (R Tripathi 66, Y Thakur 3/17) lost to Vidarbha 160/3 (A Wadkar 58, A Taide 56, M Choudhary 1/24) by seven wickets; Saurashtra 145/7 in 20 ovs (S Jackson 50, A Vasavada 26, V Vysakh 2/19) lost to Karnataka 150/8 in 19.5 ovs (A Manohar 70 n.o, R Kadam 33, J Unadkat 4/22) by 2 wickets.