Suryakumar Yadav (80), Shreyas Iyer (80*) and Prithvi Shaw’s (53) efforts went in vain as Shubman Gill’s 38-ball 78 knocked Mumbai out of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Surat. Punjab fell short of Mumbai’s mammoth 244 run target by 22 runs in a high-scoring thriller but not without giving their opponents a serious scare.

Mumbai were looking good to sneak into the semi-finals after hammering 243/3. Suryakumar’s side, though, needed to restrict Punjab to 150 or less to qualify for the last four. Gill and fellow opener Abhishek Sharma (29-ball 47) dashed Mumbai’s hopes with a timely assault in the first ten overs. Gurkeerat Mann (21-ball 40) also played an important hand but his wicket signalled a mini-collapse, which, all but sealed Punjab’s hopes of pulling off a miraculous win.

Gill’s innings, was, however a treat to watch as he displayed his exquisite range of strokes on both sides of the wickets. At the end of the innings he got a pat on the back from his U-19 captain Shaw while the Punjab batsman himself was disappointed for not carrying on and reaching the three-figure mark and take his side home.

Earlier, Shaw and Suryakumar continued their stunning batting form while Iyer found his groove after a string of low scores as Mumbai put on an exhibition of shot-making to pile up 243.

Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka make up the semi-final line-up.

The semi-finals of the national T20 championship will be played on Friday.

While Tamil Nadu will take on Rajasthan, Karnataka will clash with Haryana.

Brief scores: Mumbai 243/3 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 80, Shreyas Iyer 80*, Prithvi Shaw 53; Harpreet Brar 2/44) beat Punjab 221/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 78, Abhishek Sharma 47, Gurkeerat Mann 40; Tushar Deshpande 2/35) by 22 runs.

In-form TN spin out Jharkhand

Earlier, Washington Sundar and M Siddharth spun a web around Jharkhand as Tamil Nadu registered an eight-wicket win.

Left-arm spinner Siddharth (4/18) and off-spinner Washington (3/10) ran through the Jharkhand batting lineup, as they bundled out the opposition for a paltry 85, which Tamil Nadu later chased down in 13.5 overs.

Jharkhand skipper Saurabh Tiwary’s decision ended up being disastrous after Sundar and Siddharth’s magic with the ball. Tiwary (24 off 27 balls) and wicket-keeper Sumit Kumar (19 off 25 balls) were the only ones to show some fight, as the rest of the Jharkhand batsmen faltered in the crucial game.

Jharkhand were reeling at 29/3 and their innings never quite gathered steam, as Tamil Nadu picked up wickets at regular intervals. Spinners have been delivering for their captain Dinesh Karthik and Wednesday was no different at the CB Patel ground as Jharkhand’s wickets collapsed like a pack of cards.

Spinners R Sai Kishore (1/15) and Murugan Ashwin (1/13) also played their parts to perfection. For Tamil Nadu, the chase began on a horrendous note, as they lost their in-form opener C Hari Nishaanth (7) early. They were struggling at 35/2, as Jharkhand grabbed the wicket of Shahrukh Khan (24 off 28 balls). However, Sundar (38 not out off 22 balls), promoted up the order, took the game away from Jharkhand with his whirlwind knock.

He smashed three towering sixes and stitched a match-winning unbeaten 51-run stand with skipper Karthik (13*) to steer his side to victory. In another game, Maharashtra also recorded a narrow two-run win over Haryana. Defending a 168-run target, Maharashtra were calm in match that went down the wire. Haryana’s semi-final hopes were not dashed, though, and also booked a place in the last-four.

Brief Scores:

Jharkhand 85 all out (Saurabh Tiwary 24, Sumit Kumar 19; M Siddharth 4/18) lost to Tamil Nadu 86/2 (Washington Sundar 38*, Shahrukh Khan 24; Utkarsh Singh 1/21) by eight wickets.

Maharashtra 167/5 (Rahul Tripathi 61; Vijay Zol 38; Sumit Kumar 3/32) beat Haryana 165/7 (Shivam Chauhan 33, Himanshu Rana 28, Rahul Tewatia 28; Azim Kazi 2/21) by two runs.

Delhi end campaign on limp note

Delhi ended their campaign with a two-run defeat against Rajasthan in Surat on Wednesday. It was Delhi’s third loss in four games, sending them out of the tournament. Rajasthan recovered to 133/7 after losing half the side for 50, thanks to an unbeaten 55 off 42 balls by India pacer Deepak Chahar that saw him hit as many as seven sixes.

Rishabh Pant, opening for the second time in as many games, gave Delhi a decent start with 30 off 27 balls but a middle-order collapse put them under pressure. Despite fighting efforts from Lalit Yadav (30 off 24) and Varun Soon (24 not out off 20), Delhi fell short by two runs.

Courtesy of their superb comeback win, Rajasthan eventually sneaked into the semi-finals. Rajasthan, on a better net run rate, made it to the last four, pipping Maharashtra as the two had same points after four games.

Brief scores:

Rajasthan 133/7 (Deepak Chahar 55*, Rajesh Bishnoi 36; Subodh Bhati 2/20) beat Delhi 131/9 (Rishabh Pant 30, Lalit Yadav 30; Arjit Gupta 3-12, Khaleel Ahmed 2/20) by two runs.

Maharashtra 167/5 (Rahul Tripathi 61; Vijay Zol 38; Sumit Kumar 3-32) beat Haryana 165/7 (Shivam Chauhan 33, Himanshu Rana 28, Rahul Tewatia 28; Azim Kazi 2-21) by two runs.

(with PTI inputs)