Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Punjab, Baroda, Delhi, Assam Enter Semifinals With Comfortable Victories

Reaping dividends for producing a clutch of quality IPL performers, Punjab beat Uttar Pradesh by five wickets despite Rinku Singh's brilliance to enter the semifinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament on Thursday. Batting first, Rinku, the Indian T20 team's future finisher, smashed 77 off just 33 balls with a half a dozen sixes to take Uttar Pradesh to 169 for 3 in 20 overs. He added 116 runs for the fourth wicket in just 8.5 overs with Sameer Rizvi (42 off 29 balls). UP innings didn't get the required momentum due to poor show from skipper Karan Sharma (14 off 24 balls), who wasted a lot of deliveries up-front.

In reply, in-form Abhishek Sharma (12), Prabhsimran Singh (0) and skipper Mandeep Singh (1) were dismissed cheaply leaving Punjab reeling at 14 for 3 inside first four overs.

But Anmolpreet Singh (43 off 29 balls) and Nehal Wadhera (52 off 39 balls) set up the chase added 72 runs in 9.2 overs before Sanvir Singh (35 off 13 balls) and Ramandeep Singh (22 off 13 balls) blasted 59 in just 4.2 overs to finish the match with five balls to spare.

Left-arm seamer Yash Dayal, whose career turned upside down after being hit five consecutive sixes in the IPL, was once again clobbered by the Punjab batters and went for 53 off 4 overs.

Fellow left-armer Mohsin Khan was the best bowler with figures of 3/34 while veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 2/22 in 4 overs was steady as usual.

The Punjab batters used the extra pace of the likes of Dayal and Kartik Tyagi to score their runs while left-armer Shiva Singh (23 off 3.1 overs) also went for quite a few.

Brief Scores: UP 169/3 in 20 overs (Rinku Singh 77 not out off 33 balls). Punjab 174/5 in 19.1 overs (Nehal Wadhera 52 off 39 balls, Anmolpreet Singh 43 off 29 balls).

Mumbai