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SMAT 2021: Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Vidarbha, Karnataka register semis berth

It turned out to be a pretty eventful day in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 after Bengal and Karnataka were involved in a Super Over tie in Delhi on Thursday. While Karnataka eventually clinched a win, Tamil Nadu, Vidarbha and Hyderabad were the other three teams to march in the semi-final of the competition.

Tamil Nadu vs Kerala 

Batting first, Kerala rode on some aggressive hitting from Vishnu Vinod who remained unbeaten at 65 off 26, a knock that included seven maximums and a couple of fours during the course to post 181/4 in 20 overs on the board. Apart from Vinod, Kunnummal also notched up a fifty for his side. 

In reply, Tamil Nadu were off to a decent start but it was Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar who took up the responsibility and chipped in with a partnership of 57 runs for the third wicket before Sudharsan departed for a 31-ball 46. 

Later, Shankar was joined by Sanjay Yadav and the two batters stitched a stand of 30 runs for the fourth wicket. But it was a late surge from Shahrukh Khan who came in at number six that anchored the side to a win by 5 wickets. Shahrukh struck 19* off 9.

Rajasthan vs Vidarbha

Vidarbha thumped Rajasthan by 9 wickets after they chased down a small target of 85 runs in less than 15 overs. 

Openers Atharva Taide and Ganesh Satish provided the side with a steady start as the two put up 63 runs for the first wicket on the board. Satish departed for 28 off 33 but Taide along with Akshay Wadkar took the side home. Taide remained unbeaten at 40 off 42. 

Earlier, in the day, Vidarbha bowlers did a fantastic job for the team as they restricted Rajasthan to 84/8 in 20 overs. Rajasthan never really got into the groove and lost wickets at regular intervals. Nagarkoti top-scored for them with 39* off 48. 

Akshay Karnewar was the pick of the bowlers for Vidarbha as he returned with figures of 1/7 in 4 overs. 

Bengal vs Karnataka 

It was a thrilling match between Bengal and Karnataka after the clash went into the Super Over before Karnataka eventually stole away the win. Bengal needed 20 off the last over while chasing 161 and managed to score 19 in five deliveries before an exceptional fielding effort from Manish Pandey gave them Akash Deep’s wicket on the final ball of the match with the scores levelled. 

Bengal then scored only five runs after they lost both the wickets. Karnataka then took just a couple of deliveries to chase down the target. 

Gujarat vs Hyderabad

Hyderabad clinched a comfortable win against Gujarat by 30 runs after restricting them to 128/8 while chasing 159. Gujarat didn’t really have a good start to the chase and lost wickets at regular intervals and were left tottering at 96/6 to eventually lose the game. 

Telukupalli Ravi Teja scalped a three-fer for 27 runs in 4 overs. Earlier, Tilak Verma unleashed a batting masterclass after he struck 75 off 50 deliveries to help his side put 158/5 in 20 overs. 

Tamil Nadu will now play Hyderabad and Karnataka will be up against Vidarbha in the semis scheduled to take place on Saturday in Delhi. 

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