Bengaluru: Punjab thrashed Karnataka by six wickets in an inconsequential last league match of Vijay Hazare one-day tournament at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday. After dismissing Karnataka for 296 in 48.2 overs, Punjab rode on a 198-run stand between Shubman Gill and Anmolpreet Singh to achieve the target. While Anmolpreet slammed his second consecutive ton (138 off 106 balls), young Shubman scored 77.
With 20 points in eight matches, Punjab finished seventh and Karnataka (12 points) 13th in the combined Group A & B standings. Top five teams — Mumbai (28 points), Delhi (26 points), Maharashtra (26 points), Andhra (26 points) and Hyderabad (22 points) — made it to the quarter-finals which will be held at Bengaluru from October 14. Two teams from Group C and one from Plate group (Bihar) will complete the last-eight line-up.
Earlier, put in to bat, Karnataka openers R. Samarth and BR Sharath got the team off to a blistering start with a stand of 115 runs. The highlight of the century stand was the attacking stroke-play. Once both the openers fell, Manish Pandey took charge, but Siddarth Kaul made inroads for Punjab.
