Krunal, GS Raju star in quarter-final wins

Krunal Pandya's all-round performance - a three-for coupled with a half-century - set up an emphatic seven-wicket victory for Baroda against Karnataka in the first quarter-final at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Chasing 234, Pandya struck a 79-ball 70 after Baroda's Kedar Devdhar and Aditya Waghmode replicated Karnataka's opening stand of 64 runs. Waghmode's dismissal in the 15th over preceded a solid 92-run partnership between Devdhar and Pandya for the second wicket, that took their side to 156 within 33 overs. While Devdhar struck six fours and two sixes in his 98-ball 78, Pandya's knock - studded with five fours and a six - guided Baroda past 200 and took him among the top five run-scorers in the tournament, with 336 runs from seven matches. Pandya had put on 47 for the third wicket with Deepak Hooda, who made a brisk 34* to overhaul the target, alongside Yusuf Pathan (10*) - with 25 balls to spare.

Earlier, Baroda's decision to field was vindicated by Pandya's returns of 3 for 32, as his left-arm orthodox undid Ravikumar Samarth (44), before accounting for J Suchith and Aniruddha Joshi, who fell for 18 each. Despite four of their top five batsmen - including Robin Uthappa (24) and Mayank Agarwal (40) - scoring over 20, Karnataka only managed 233 in 48.5 overs, as three run-outs and a middle-overs stutter were followed by them losing their last four wickets for 18 runs. Pavan Deshpande top-scored with 54, but his run-out in the 35th over meant the remaining six partnerships could only add another 63 runs before they were bowled out.

A combined bowling effort and a score of 85 from opener GS Raju steered Tamil Nadu in the semi-finals with a five-wicket win over Gujarat in Delhi. Once Gujarat were bowled out for 211, TN reached their target with 46 balls to spare.

Gujarat could not capitalise on their decision to bat as left-arm spinner Rahil Shah removed two of the top three batsmen even though Samit Gohel fought with a patient 39 till the 21st over. Two quick wickets from Vijay Shankar, trapping Het Patel and Chirag Gandhi lbw, meant Gujarat slipped to 110 for 5 with over 20 overs left. No. 4 Rujul Bhatt, however, resisted with a brisk half-century and chaperoned the tail to ensure Gujarat batted till the last over. His unbeaten 83 off 98 balls, with five fours and two sixes, survived spells from RS Kishore (2 for 35) and Shah (2 for 34) as Shankar ended with 3 for 48 from his 10 overs, his best List A figures.

TN's chase was led by Raju who stitched partnerships of 62, 63 and 42 for the top three stands with Kaushik Gandhi (18), B Aparajith (34) and Dinesh Karthik (21). Once Raju fell for a 95-ball 85 in the 32nd over, TN were only 45 away and sealed the win in the 43rd over, although after losing two more wickets.