Rain ended Mumbai’s Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign here on Monday as Chhattisgarh made it to the semi-finals on the basis of more wins against their quarterfinal opponents in the league phase.
Tamil Nadu also reached the semi-finals on the basis of more wins than Punjab in the league stage after their quarter-final game was cut short by rain.
Tamil Nadu had won nine out of nine matches in Group C, while Chhattisgarh emerged victorious in five out of eight games in Group A. Mumbai won four.
While Tamil Nadu will take on Gujarat in the semifinals on Wednesday, hosts Karnataka will clash with Chhattisgarh.
In pursuit of a revised target of 195 from 39 overs, Mumbai were cruising at 95 for no loss in 11.3 overs with young Yashasvi Jaiswal batting on 60 (38 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) and Aditya Tare on 31.
However, the skies opened up and the match was abandoned, ending Mumbai’s topsy-turvy campaign.
As per rules, Mumbai needed to bat a minimum of 20 overs to get a result in this game. But as the game was abandoned, Chhattisgarh qualified.
The Mumbai Ranji team later confirmed that they will ask the state cricket association to discuss with the BCCI the "unfair" rules that cut short their campaign despite dominating the quarterfinal.
A member of the Mumbai support staff expressed displeasure over the current rules.
"Yes definitely we will make a demand. This was unfair," the member said.
"How should the performance in the league stage matter in the knock-out stages. Every day is a new day. Else, a good team goes out in this fashion," the member said, adding "else this thing would continue."
In the other last eight game, Punjab restricted Tamil Nadu to 174 for six in 39 overs when rain stopped play. Tamil Nadu had a shaky start after openers Murali Vijay (22) and Abhinav Mukund (17) failed to convert starts.
But the in-form Baba Aparajith came up with a patient 76-ball 56 (2 fours, 2 sixes) to pull his side out of trouble. He lacked support as all-rounder Vijay Shankar (13) and skipper Dinesh Karthik (11) didn’t last long enough.
Thanks to Washingston Sundar’s unbeaten 35 off 39 balls, Tamil Nadu breached the 170-run mark.
Punjab were 52 for two in 12.2 overs, having lost opener Abhishek Sharma (6) and Anmolpreet Singh (9) when rain stopped play. The game was eventually called off.