Haryana edge out Punjab via super over

Chennai Super Kings pacer Anshul Kamboj dismissed swashbuckling India opener Abhishek Sharma twice in the game as Haryana pipped Punjab via Super Over in a thrilling Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy match on Friday.

Set a target of 208, Punjab ended their innings at the same score to take the match to Super Over, where Kamboj got the wickets of Abhishek and Sanvir Singh in three deliveries. Nishant Sindhu then hit a first-ball boundary to score the required two runs and seal the contest in Haryana’s favour.

Earlier in the match, CSK speedster Kamboj accounted for the wickets of openers Abhishek (6) and Prabhsimran Singh (20) to rock Punjab at the start of their chase after Sindhu (61 off 32 balls) and skipper Ankit Kumar (51 off 26 balls) propelled Haryana to a competitive total with their blazing knocks.

At 28 for two in the third over, Punjab were in a spot of bother but Anmolpreet Singh had other ideas as he blasted his way to 81 off a mere 37 deliveries to bring his side back into the contest. Anmolpreet added 68 runs for the third wicket with Salil Arora (22 off 18) and then 49 with Nehal Wadehra (11) to keep Punjab in the game.

Anmolpreet though could not finish the game for Punjab as Samant Jakhar had him caught at a crucial juncture to swing the game Haryana’s way. However, the explosive Sanvir (30 off 16 balls), in the company of Ramandeep Singh (13 off 9) and Harpreet Brar (10 off 4), helped Punjab match Haryana’s total to extend the contest.

Besides Kamboj (2/26 in 4), there were two wickets apiece for Jakhar (2/37 in 4) and Yuzvendra Chahal 2/40 in 4).  After the dismissal of Sindhu and Ankit, Sumit Kumar (28 off 14 balls) and Jakhar (19 off 13) propped up Haryana. Ashwani Kumar was the best bowler for Punjab, returning fine figures of 3/31 in four overs.

Brief scores:

Haryana 207/9 in 20 overs (Nishant Sindhu 61, Ankit Kumar 51; Ashawani Kumar 3/31) beat Punjab 207/7 in 20 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 81, Sanvir Singh 30 not out; Anshul Kamboj 2/26) in Super Over.

Puducherry 166/9 in 20 overs (Aman Khan 72; Raj Limbani 3/35) beat Baroda 149 all out in 18.5 overs (Shivalik Sharma 56; Adil Ayub Tunda 4/30) by 17 runs.

Himachal Pradesh 199/6 in 20 overs (Mridul Surroch not out 75, Ekant Sen 49; Vishal Gaur 2/31) beat Services 116 all out in 16.5 overs (Arpit Guleria 3/12, Vaibhav Arora 3/16, Aryaman Singh 2/19, Rahul Chauhan 2/14).