Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karnataka pip Punjab, set up semifinal date with Saurashtra

AHMEDABAD: Young pacer Vidwath Kaverappa showed a lot of promise and bagged a career-best 4/40 as Karnataka defeated Punjab by four wickets in a thrilling finish to enter the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals here on Monday.
Karnataka will take on Saurashtra in the semifinals here on Wednesday.
Young Abhishek Sharma's knock was the backbone of Punjab innings as he anchored the show with a 123-ball 109, even as wickets kept falling around him.
Punjab were eventually bowled out for a modest 235 in the final delivery, with Kaverappa being the pick of Karnataka bowling. Ronie More took 2/48.
The chase was not easy for Karnataka as Punjab bowlers managed to take the game to the last over where Manoj Bhandage (25 not out) and Krishnappa Gowtham (six not out) sealed the issue with four balls to spare.
On a day when Mayank Agarwal got out for one, his opening partner Ravikumar Samarth top-scored for Karnataka with a resolute 106-ball 71. But Samarth failed to carry on and perished in the 36th over.
The likes of Shreyas Gopal (42), Manish Pandey (35) and Nikin Jose (29) also got starts but could not finish the task, leaving it for the lower-order to pull off a nervy win.
Sanvir Singh was the pick of the Punjab bowling and returned with tidy figures of 10-1-28-2.
Brief scores:
Punjab 235; 50 overs (Abhishek Sharma 109, Sanvir Singh 39; Vidwath Kaverappa 4/40, Ronit More 2/48) lost to Karnataka 238/6; 49.2 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 71, Shreyas Gopal 42; Sanvir Singh 2/28) by 4 wickets.