Chawla heroics to take UP to semi-finals

Piyush Chawla's all-round efforts helped Uttar Pradesh sail through to the semi-finals with a 34-run win against Himachal Pradesh at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium. Chawla scored a breezy half-century before picking up 4 for 41 to knock HP out of the tournament. UP found the going tough after choosing to bat, and were struggling at 105 for 5, before a 79-run partnership between Chawla and Ravikant Shukla propped them up. Shukla stroked four boundaries during his 79-ball 55, and Chawla slammed two sixes in a 46-ball 56 to take UP to a competitive 210. HP's chase got off to a poor start, losing Mukesh Sharma in the first over, caught behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvneshwar then removed the other opener Sangram Singh before Bhavin Thakkar steadied the innings. His 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ajay Mannu looked to have steered HP away from danger. However Chawla struck in the 32nd over, having Thakkar caught by Shivakant Shukla after a fighting 60, which included eight boundaries. Chawla and Praveen Gupta then struck at regular intervals to bowl out HP for 176 in the 43rd over.

Left-arm seamer Ikram Zampawala's four wickets helped Baroda crush Hyderabad by seven wickets at the Polytechnic Institute ground and advance to the semi-finals. The 23-year-old Zampawala scythed through the top-order, leaving Hyderabad at 19 for 3 in the 10th over, blows from which they never recovered. Swapnil Singh provided good support for Zampawala, picking up 3 for 25. Dwaraka Ravi Teja played the only innings of note for Hyderabad - a 137-ball 77, which included four boundaries. None of the other batsmen made more than 20 as Hyderabad were shot out for 167. Baroda suffered an early hiccup during the chase, with Kedar Hemant Devdhar exiting in the third over, but were rarely in trouble after that. Powered by half-centuries from Shailesh Solanki, Azharuddin Bilakhia and Rakesh Solanki, Baroda overhauled the target in the 31st over.