Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20: Gujarat thrash Andhra by 7 wickets to enter final

Bhubaneswar: Gujarat batsmen made short work of their modest chase to outplay Andhra Pradesh by seven wickets and set up the title clash with Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 cricket tournament, here on Sunday.

Chasing 128 for a win in the Group A Super League knockout, Gujarat rode on opener Smit Patel's 51 and Rujul Bhatt's unbeaten 44 to gallop to their target in 17.3 overs.

Earlier put into bat, Mohammad Kaif led by example with a 46-ball 58 but were done in by an excellent effort from the Andhra pacers to be bowled out for 127 in 19.5 overs.

Naren Reddy (20) and Jyothi Sai Krishna (21) also chipped in with useful scores but Andhra pacers Rush Kalaria (3-17), Chintan Gaja (2-15) and Rohit Dahiya (3-24) shared eight wickets between them to wreck the Andhra batting.

Earlier in a Group B encounter, the Harbhajan Singh-led Punjab outplayed Rajasthan by six wickets to book their final berth in the domestic T20 event.

Brief Scores:

Andhra 127 all out in 19.5 overs (Mohammad Kaif 58, Jyothi Sai Krishna 21; Rush Kalaria (3-17), Chintan Gaja (2-15), Rohit Dahiya 3-24)

Gujarat 128/3 in 17.3 overs (Smit Patel 51, Rujul Bhatt 44 not out; KV Sasikanth 2-24).