Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Punjab eliminates Karnataka in the first Quarter Final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Punjab eliminates Karnataka in the first Quarter Final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Punjab eliminates defending champions Karnataka from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 in the first quarter-final. Punjab?s brilliance with bowling wrapped Karnataka in mere 87 runs while the Punjab batsmen crossed the target in just 12.4 overs, and owned a comfortable win.

Newly build Sardar Patel Stadium witnessed a flop show from the Karnataka batsmen and has been knocked out of the tournament.

Punjab?s pacer Siddarth Kaul (3/15) and Sandeep Sharma (2/17) thrashed the whole top order of Karnataka.

The initial breakthroughs put Karnataka under pressure as openers Devdutt Paddikkal (11) and Karun Nair (12) fell cheaply. While Pavan Deshpande returned golden duck after a tremendous diving catch by spinner Mayank Markande.

Siddarth Kaul dismissed both Padikkal and Deshpande in the fourth over to reduce Karnataka to 26 for four wickets.

Shreyas Gopal who earlier seemed to be the saviour of the side too fell cheaply against Punjab?s bowling unit. Gopal returned after scoring 13 runs off pacer Ramandeep Singh. Till that time, half of the Karnataka contingent returned to the dugout in mere 51 runs.

Ramandeep Singh picked his second scalp dismissing J Suchith for 8 runs. 

Spinner Mayank Markande dominated Karnataka in his second spell and cleaned good looking Anirudh Joshi for 27 runs. The dominance of the bowlers continued as Punjab restricted defending champions to just 87 runs.

Punjab lost one of the openers early on but Mandeep Singh and Prabhsimran Singh took the charge and ran over the target in just 12.4 overs. Mandeep remained not out on 35 runs while Prabhsimran Singh scored unbeaten 49 runs off 37 balls.

Punjab recorded a comfortable nine-wicket victory against defending champions Karnataka and cemented their stance as the contender of Final.

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