A whirlwind half-century from Sumeet Verma was complemented by a three-wicket haul from Rishi Dhawan as Himachal Pradesh continued their fairytale run to enter the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final with a 13-run win over Punjab in Kolkata on Thursday. (More Cricket News)
💝Sent in to bat, Sumeet slammed three fours and as many maximums in his 25-ball 51, while Akash Vasisht scored 43 off 24 balls, laced with four hits to the fence and two sixes to steer HP to 176 for 7.
❀In response, Shubman Gill made a 32-ball 45 at the top while Anmol Preet Singh (30), Mandeep Singh (29) and Ramandeep Singh (29) tried their bit but it wasn't enough as they were limited to 163-7 in their 20 overs.
♛Dhawan did most of the damage for Himachal as he produced the first breakthrough, dismissing opener Abhishek Sharma (1), Pukhraj Mann (10) and Ramandeep.
♈Mayank Dagar (2/27), Kanwar Abhinay Singh (1/27) and Akash Vasisht (1/8) were also among wickets.
𒁃Himachal, the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy winners, were 32 for 2 in the powerplay but Sumeet and Akash then put on 45 off 23 balls to take the team close to the 100-mark.
🦂Once Sumeet fell to Sanvir Singh in the 13th over, Akash took the onus on himself and added another 47 off 27 with Pankaj Jaswal (27) to lift them to a competitive total.
▨Jaswal clobbered two fours and a six in his 16-ball cameo.
ꦕChasing the total, Punjab innings never got going.
✱Gill looked solid at the top as he had seven hits to the fence and a six in his innings but once he was gone, Punjab had slipped to 61 for 3 in the 10th over.
♛Anmolpreet tried to resurrect the chase but by the time he was back in the hut, Punjab had lost half their side for 103 in the 15th over.
⛎Skipper Mandeep and Ramandeep conjured up hopes of a turnaround with a 38-run stand but it was too little too late in the end.
Brief Scores:
🎐Himachal Pradesh: 176 for 7 in 20 overs (S Verma 51, A Vasisht 43; Abhishek Sharma 2/20, Sanvir Singh 2/17)
⭕Punjab: 163 for 7 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 45; Rishi Dhawan 3/25).
