Venkatesh Iyer's half-ton in vain as Punjab beat Madhya Pradesh

Ambi (Pune), Dec 16 (PTI) Out-of-favour India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer made an impactful half-century for Madhya Pradesh but couldn't stop Punjab from winning the inconsequential Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League Group A tie by two wickets here on Tuesday.

Interestingly, Venkatesh's knock came hours before he was set to go under the hammer at the mini IPL auction in Abu Dhabi.

With Venkatesh in full flow at the top, the soon-to-be 31 scored a 43-ball 70 studded with eight boundaries and two sixes as Madhya Pradesh scored a stiff 225 for 8. However, young Harnoor Singh made quite a statement with his 36-ball 64 as he gave Punjab the momentum that led them to a thrilling win in 19.1 overs.

Billed as an all-rounder, Venkatesh was only given one over by his skipper Rajat Patidar in which he gave away 12 runs.

This was the first win for both the sides in three games, leaving them out of contention for a place in the final from Group A.

Venkatesh's half-century, which came just a couple of hours before the IPL mini-auction in Abu Dhabi, set the platform for the big total after their innings faltered with opener Harsh Gawli (7), Harpreet Singh (27) and skipper Rajat Patidar (20) going cheaply.

At 93 for 3, a 200-plus scored looked a far cry but Venkatesh pulled out all stop to give a big push to the scorecard. Venkatesh's dismissal in the 17th over came after he had stitched together a 63-run stand with Aniket Verma (31) for the fifth wicket.

Late-order batters Mangesh Yadav (28 off 12 balls) and Tripuresh Singh (11 off 4) then took the total past 200.

Punjab's innings too faltered with skipper Prabhsimran Singh (9) going early but Harnoor and one-down batter Anmolpreet Singh (38 off 14 balls) steadied the ship after which Salil Arora (50 off 29 balls) played an innings littered with five sixes to take his team closer to the target.

Ramandeep Singh then completed the formalities with a well-made unbeaten 35.

Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 225 for 8 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 70; Gurnoor Brar 3/45, Ramandeep Singh 2/23).

Punjab 226 for 8 in 19.1 overs (Harnoor Singh 64, Anmolpreet Singh 38, Salil Arora 50; Shivam Shukla 3/39, Mangesh Yadav 2/38). PTI AM AM KHS KHS