Punjab edged past Karnataka via a super over in a Group A Super League tie of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket tournament at the Jadavpur University campus ground here on Sunday.Put in to bat first, Karnataka posted 158/7 in 20 overs with Punjab also recording an identical score losing nine wickets.In the super over, Punjab batted first with out-of-favour India southpaw Yuvraj Singh (5 not out) and Mandeep Singh (10 not out) scoring 15 off Krishnappa Gowtham's six balls.In reply, Karun Nair (8) and Aniruddha (2) could only manage 10 for Karnataka.The result means the Harbhajan Singh-led Punjab started their campaign on a high note, logging four points in their opening Super League game.Earlier, chasing 159 for victory, Punjab rode on Mandeep Singh's quickfire 29-ball 45 to lead Punjab's charge with Harbhajan (33) -- batting at No. 3 -- also hitting some lusty blows.Yuvraj scored 29 before he was caught behind attempting to drive the ball. Punjab never lost sight of the target with Sharad Lumba (20) also batting well. In the last over, 12 runs were needed and Aniruddha grassed Siddarth Kaul at extra cover.
The last ball saw Sandeep Singh (6 not out) take two runs to tie the match. Baltej Singh was not out on zero at the other end.For Karnataka, C.M. Gautam (36) and Aniruddha (40 not out) steadied the ship after they were reduced to 3/35 by the fifth over.R. Samarth (31) also batted well holding one end up when wickets were falling at the other end.Skipper R. Vinay Kumar (15 not out) also helped Karnataka reach a respectable 158/7 total.Yuvraj, meanwhile, rolled back the years by taking three stunning catches.For Punjab, Baltej Singh (3/21) was the pick of the bowlers while Manpreet Singh Gony (2/8) was excellent as well.In another Group A game at the same venue, Mumbai beat Jharkhand by 13 runs after putting up 170/5 on the board.
Jharkhand won the toss and elected to field but Siddhesh Lad (46) and Aditya Tare (45) played well to help Mumbai post a formidable total.In reply, Virat Singh struck a whirlwind 49-ball 81 but the other batsmen could not support him as they could manage only 157/7 in 20 overs.At the Eden Gardens in two Group B matches, Delhi cantered to an eight-wicket win over Tamil Nadu riding left-arm medium pacer Kulwant Khejroliya's 4/26 and Rishabh Pant's 33-ball 58.Put in to bat, Tamil Nadu posted 145/7. Delhi, despite skipper Gautam Gambhir scoring only 21, eased to the target in 15.2 overs.Meanwhile Bengal lost to Baroda by 17 runs. Chasing 150 for victory, Bengal stumper Sreevats Goswami hit a defiant 58 but in the end it went up in smoke as the hosts lost wickets at regular intervals. For Baroda, Krunal Pandya and Lukman Meriwala took three wickets each.
Brief scores:
Karnataka: 158/7 (Aniruddha Joshi 40, CM Gautam 36; Baltej Singh 3/21, Manpreet Singh Gony 2/8) vs Punjab: 158/9 (Mandeep Singh 45, Harbhajan Singh 33, Yuvraj Singh 29; Sreenath Aravind 4/32, Praveen Dubey 2/12).
Baroda: 149/9 (Vishnu Solanke 26, Deepak Hooda 22, Kedar Devdhar 21; Sayan Ghosh 3/37, Manoj Tiwary 2/25, Kanishk Seth 2/26) vs Bengal: 132 all out in 19.5 overs (Shreevats Goswami 58; Krunal Pandya 3/14, Lukman Meriwala 3/26, Soaeb Tai 2/27).
Mumbai: 170/5 (Siddhesh Lad 46, Aditya Tare 45; Atul Singh Surwar 2/35, Shahbaz Nadeem 1/23) vs Jharkhand: 157/7 (Virat Singh 81, Sourav Tiwary 32; Akash Parkar 2/32, Dhawal Kulkarni 1/12, Jay Bista 1/23).
Tamil Nadu: 145/7 (Vijay Shankar 47 not out, Baba Aparajith 45; Kulwant Khejroliya 4/26) vs Delhi: 146/2 in 15.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 58, Nitish Rana 34 not out, Dhruv Shorey 28 not out; Washington Sundar 2/28).