Mumbai win puts Tamil Nadu in final; take on Punjab

Tamil Nadu today made it to the final of the All India Twenty20 tourney after Mumbai defeated Bengal by 31 runs in the last game of Group B.

Tamil Nadu today made it to the final of the All India Twenty20 tourney after Mumbai defeated Bengal by 31 runs in the last game of Group B.

They now meet the winners of Group A, Punjab, for the title on April 21 in Mumbai.

Though Mumbai have 12 points from three wins, Tamil Nadu qualify for the finals as TN had the advantage of having beaten them in an earlier encounter.

Earlier, Mumbai won the toss and set a competitive target of 148 runs for seven wickets in 20 overs. Sachin Tendulkar top-scored for Mumbai with 38 runs from 26 balls.

Needing 7.5 runs per over, Bengal lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 17 in six overs. Even the presence of Sourav Ganguly could not bail Bengal out from the initial setback.

Earlier, at the same venue, Tamil Nadu won their final group-stage encounter against Madhya Pradesh by 12 runs in Group B at the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera here.

Tamil Nadu, after being put in to bat, got off to a disastrous start losing the first four wickets for 46 runs, with MP seamer Anand Rajan wiping off the cream of the batting, grabbing the wickets of V Devendran 2, S Vidyut 25 and C Ganapathy 0. Middle-order bat M Vijay top scored for Tamil Nadu with 35 runs in 29 balls and helped his team reach 143 runs in 19.3 overs.

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Brief scores: Mumbai 148 for 7 S Tendulkar 38, A Muzumdar 34, M Tiwary 2/7 beat Bengal 117 for 6 Tiwary 36, L R Shukla 48; A Agarkar 2/12.

Tamil Nadu 143 all out M Vijay 35, D Kaarthick 27; A Rajan 3/34 beat Madhya Pradesh 131/5 M Pasha 25, R Bakshi 23 n.o.

8226; In Mumbai: Powered by an aggressive half-century by Yuvraj Singh, Punjab registered a 71-run win over Orissa in Mumbai to enter the finals. Replying to an imposing Punjab score of 201 for 5, Orissa succumbed to the pressure and could manage just 130 for 7 at the Wankhede Stadium. Yuvraj belted eight boundaries and four sixes in his 39-ball knock of 70.

In the day match, Railways ended their engagements with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Karnataka in an inconsequential Group A league match. Chasing Karnataka8217;s 20-over total of 162 for five, Railways rode on some fine top-order batting to reply with 163 for three in 19.1 overs.

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Brief scores: Punjab 201 for 5 Yuvraj 70, D Mongia 43 beat Orissa 130 for 7P Jaychandra 39, B Pati 30, A Uniyal 3 for 22.

Karnataka 162 for 5 T Naidu 44, R Uthappa 31 lost to Railways 163 for 3 S Khanolkar 47 n.o, A Pagnis 45