Himachal Pradesh and Mumbai are set to lock horns in the final clash of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Saturday. While Mumbai defeated Vidarbha to book the final ticket, Punjab had to face defeat in the semifinals against Himachal Pradesh.
- Mumbai vs Vidarbha semifinal match:
Shreyas Iyer was at his destructive best en route to a 44-ball 73 as Mumbai chased the target of 165 runs to outplay Vidarbha by five wickets and enter the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy on Thursday.
Mumbai lost their skipper Ajinkya Rahane early but the in-form Prithvi Shaw (34 off 21) and Iyer ensured their team chased the target in just 16.5 overs. Vidarbha had made 164/7 with wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma smashing 46 off 24 balls.
Iyer's knock comprised seven fours and four sixes. Sarfaraz Khan also contributed 27 runs off 19 balls.Shivam Dube finished the game with a couple of sixes to remain unbeaten on 13 off four balls.
"You can't underestimate anyone. It is important to execute the plan on the given day," Iyer said, referring to Mumbai's opponents in the final.
- Himachal team vs Punjab semifinal match:
Sumit Verma's half-century and Rishi Dhawan's three-wicket haul helped Himachal Pradesh continue their scintillating momentum as they stormed into the final of the tournament with a 13-run win over Punjab here on Thursday.
When invited to bat, Sumit hit three boundaries and as many sixes in his 25-ball 51 while Akash Vashisht hit 43 off 24 balls, which included four fours and two sixes. The Himachal Pradesh team scored 176/7.
In reply, Shubman Gill scored 45 runs in 32 balls at the top of the order while Anmolpreet Singh (30 runs), Mandeep Singh (29 runs), and Ramandeep Singh (29 runs) did their best to help their team to achieve the target, but the effort went in vain.
Punjab managed to score only 163/7 in 20 overs. In this, Dhawan's bowling played an important role for Himachal, who took the wickets of openers Abhishek Verma (01), Pukhraj Mann (10), and Ramandeep for 25 runs. Mayank Dagar (2/27), Kanwar Abhinay Singh (1/27), and Akash Vashisht (8/1) also took wickets.
Himachal Pradesh, the winners of the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy, lost two wickets for 32 runs in the powerplay. But Sumit and Akash scored 45 runs in 23 balls to take the team to the score of 100 runs
