Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, Semi-final 2: Karnataka beat Vidarbha by 4 runs to reach final

Vidyadhar Patil defended 14 runs in the final over as Karnataka defeated Vidarbha by 4 runs to reach the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021/22. They will face defending champion Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, Darshan Nalkande claimed four wickets in four balls in the 20th over to restrict Karnataka to 176/7 after they had got off to a flying start. Nalkande dismissed Aniruddha Joshi, Abhinav Manohar, Sharath B.R., and Jagadeesha Suchith. Manohar impressed with his quick 27.

Manish Pandey and Rohan Kadam had got Karnataka off a rollicking start with a 132-run opening stand. Kadam started slowly but went on to score 87 in 56 balls, with seven fours and four sixes. Pandey scored 54 in 42. Both were undone by Lalit Yadav.

In response, Atharv Taide struck a couple of fours and a six in the first over. He looked dangerous until he holed out to Pandey on 32. Two overs later, Ganesh Satish (31) fell to Suchith, but Shubham Dubey struck 24 off 16 to keep his side in the game. 

Barring the openers, none of the batters could score more than 30. By the end of the 17th over they were 135/5, needing another 42 to win. Akshay Karnewar and Apoorv Wankhade struck a six each off Darshan M.B. in the next over. The next over, bowled by Vijaykumar Vyshak, went for 13 runs.

But Vidyadhar Patil then got Karnewar (22) on the first ball of the last over, and Vidarbha were restricted to 172/6.

Brief scores: Karnataka 176/7 in 20 overs (Rohan Kadam 87; Darshan Nalkande 4-28) beat Vidarbha 172/6 in 20 overs (Atharva Taide 32; K.C. Cariappa 2-27) by 4 runs.