Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 | Karnataka steamroll past helpless Haryana to book final berth

Chaitanya Bishnoi and Harshal Patel got the Haryana side off to a flyer, racing to 50 at the end of five overs. However, Shreyas Gopal dealt the first blow as Harshal Patel smashed it straight to the fielder. One brought another, as Shivam Chauhan was trapped in front by Gopal. Himanshu Rana and Bishnoi put up a valuable partnership as they the duo accelerated. Haryana reached 192 by the start of the last over, as Abhimanyu Mithun looked to curt the runs and five wickets in six deliveries ensured that Mithun got his hattrick and Haryana fell short of the 200-mark by 6 runs. It was Mithun’s second hattrick in the season, as the seasoned seamer achieved the feat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier. 

For Karnataka, 195 runs, which looked like a lot to the spectators was just a cakewalk. Openers KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal just absolutely smoked the bowlers from the second over. While Padikkal crashed the ball to the boundaries, his fellow opener Rahul stepped down to the take the cleaners to Haryana spinners. Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal - it did not matter for Rahul as 32 off just eight deliveries he faced of the spinners. Karnataka reached 68 for no loss at the end of just fifth over, needing 125 runs off the last 15 overs. Rahul’s wicket in the 10th over did not stop the run flow, as Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey helped Karnataka reach the target in just 15 overs.