Tamil Nadu and Baroda on Friday set up the final showdown after securing wins in their respective semifinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21 at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.
While the Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu beat Rajasthan by seven wickets, Kedar Devdhar and Co. came out on top against Punjab to reach the final.
Tamil Nadu vs Rajasthan: Semifinal 1
Arun Karthik starred with the bat as Tamil Nadu beat Rajasthan by seven wickets to march into the final.
The right-hander creamed an unbeaten 89 off 54 balls as the Dinesh Karthik-led unit, who needed 155 runs to win, chased down the target in 18.4 overs.
Arun Karthik remained unbeaten on 89 while skipper Dinesh Karthik scored 26* off 17 balls and added 89 runs to help Tamil Nadu secure a place in the final.
Tamil Nadu 158/3 (Arun Karthik 89*, N Jagadeesan 28; Tanveer-Ul-Haq 1/22)
Rajasthan 154/9 (Ashok Menaria 51, Arjit Gupta 45; M Mohammed 4/24)
Punjab vs Baroda: Semifinal 2
Baroda rode on skipper Kedar Devdhar and Karthik Kakade’s half-centuries as they beat Punjab by 25 runs in the semifinal to set up the final showdown against Tamil Nadu.
Lukman Meriwala then picked up three wickets with the ball as Baroda, who scored 160/3, limited Punjab to 135/8.
In the chase, Punjab lost both their openers – Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh – in the powerplay as Meriwala helped Baroda get early breakthroughs.
skipper Devdhar got out in the final over after scoring 64, Baroda posted 160/3 on the board.
Baroda 160/3 (Kedar Devdhar 64, Karthik Kanade 53*; Mayank Markande 1/29)
Punjab 135/8 (Mandeep Singh 42*, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 39; Lukman Meriwala 3/28)
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21 Tamil Nadu and Baroda set up final showdown in Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
