Himachal Pradesh beat Punjab by 13 runs to enter Mushtaq Ali Trophy final | Cricket News

KOLKATA: A whirlwind half-century from Sumeet Verma was supplemented 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 on Thursday.
Sent in to bat, Sumeet hit three fours and as many maximums in his 25-ball 51, while Akash Vasisht scored 43 off 24 balls, hitting four hits to the fence and driving two sixes to send HP to 176 for 7.

In response, Shubman Gill made a 32-ball 45 at the top as Anmol Preet Singh (30), Mandeep Singh (29) and Ramandeep Singh (29) tried their bit but it was not enough as they were restricted to 163-7 in their 20 overs.
Dhawan did most of the damage for Himachal when he made the first breakthrough, dismissed by 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 the wickets.

Himachal, the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy winners, were 32 for 2 in the clash, but Sumeet and Akash then scored 45 off 23 balls to take the team close to the 100 mark.
After Sumeet fell to Sanvir Singh in the 13th over, Akash took the onus and added another 47 off 27 with Pankaj Jaswal (27) to raise them to a competitive total.
Jaswal hit two fours and a six in his 16-ball cameo.
Chasing the total, Punjab innings never got going.
Gill looked solid up top as he had seven hits to the fence and a six in his innings, but once he was gone, Punjab slumped to 61 for 3 in the 10th over.
Anmolpreet tried to revive the chase, but by the time he was back in the hut, Punjab had lost half their team for 103 in the 15th over.
Skipper Mandeep and Ramandeep raised hopes of a turnaround with a 38-run stand but it was too little too late in the end.
Short 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).