<p>Karnataka's batting came a cropper once again as the defending champions suffered a humiliating nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Punjab in the quarterfinal to crash out of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The first-ever game at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium -- the biggest cricket venue in the world with 1,10,000 capacity -- turned out to be a drab affair. Put into bat, Karnataka were bundled out for 87 with Aniruddha Joshi (27, 34b, 2x4) being the only batsman to have crossed the 20-run mark. </p>.<p>Incidentally, the two men who fashioned Punjab's win over Karnataka in the Group stage, were the star performers in the last-eight encounter as well. Pacer Siddharth Kaul rocked the top-order to finish with 4-0-15-3 before Prabhsimran Singh hammered an unbeaten 37-ball 49 (2x4, 36) to help Punjab knock off the target with 41 balls to spare. </p>.<p>The scorecard gives the impression of a stellar bowling show from Punjab. But the fact is the Karnataka players gift-wrapped their wickets courtesy of some horrendous batting. Captain Karun Nair (12) appeared clueless as he top-edged one to mid-off fielder Gurkeerat Singh while attempting a flick off Sandeep Sharma in the third over. Just two balls later, Kaul triggered Karnataka's collapse. </p>.<p>Devdutt Padikkal (11), who made room to reach out to a short ball, didn't connect well and offered a catch to Gurkeerat again at mid-off. The Punjab all-rounder did well to rush forward and dive to pouch the catch. A ball later, another fielding brilliance put Punjab in command. </p>.<p>Pavan Deshpande, coming in for Rohan Kadam, uppishly flicked a delivery off Kaul, and Mayank Markande jumped to his right to complete a fine catch. Soon, BR Sharath, replacing the struggling wicketkeeper-batsman Shrijith KL, edged one to first slip to hand Arshdeep Singh his first wicket of the game. </p>.<p>The Punjab attack got the ball to move and maintained a disciplined line to keep the pressure on Karnataka. None of the batsmen, apart from Joshi, showed the requisite intent to forge a partnership and take the innings deep.</p>.<p>Even an inexperienced Ramandeep Singh, with no threatening pace or variations, troubled Karnataka. Shreyas Gopal poked one to the wicketkeeper without any foot movement to join the frustrated dug-out. The medium-pacer then had J Suchith caught down the leg side. Joshi, running out of partners, went for a slog sweep but saw his stumps rattled by a well-disguised googly off leggie Markande. </p>.<p>The in-form Prabhsimran then made short work of the target to put Punjab in the semifinal, thereby ending Karnataka's campaign marred by poor batting. </p>.<p>SCORE BOARD </p>.<p>KARNATAKA: Devdutt Padikkal c Gurkeerat b Kaul 11 (10b, 2x4), Karun Nair c Gurkeerat b Sandeep 12 (9b, 2x4), BR Sharath c Abhishek b Arshdeep 2 (3b), Pavan Deshpande c Markande b Kaul 0 (2b), Aniruddha b Markande 27 (34b, 2x4), Shreyas Gopal c Prabhsimran b Ramandeep 13 (11b, 2x4), J Suchith c Prabhsimran b Ramandeep 8 (10b, 1x4), Pravin Dubey b Arshdeep 9 (9b), A Mithun c & b Kaul 2 (8b), V Koushik (not out) 0, Prasidh Krishna c & b Sandeep 1 (5b). Extras (W-2) 2. Total (all out, 17.2 overs) 87. </p>.<p>Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Nair), 2-26 (Padikkal), 3-26 (Deshpande), 4-26 (Sharath), 5-51 (Shreyas), 6-72 (Suchith), 7-84 (Aniruddha), 8-86 (Dubey), 9-86 (Mithun). </p>.<p>Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 2.2-0-17-2, Arshdeep Singh 3-0-16-2, Siddharth Kaul 4-0-15-3, Harpreet Brar 1-0-5-0, Ramandeep Singh 4-0-22-2, Mayank Markande 3-0-12-1. </p>.<p>PUNJAB: Abhishek Sharma c Padikkal b Mithun 4 (6b, 1x4), Prabhsimran Singh (not out) 49 (37b, 2x4, 3x6), Mandeep Singh (not out) 35 (33b, 4x4, 1x6). Extra (LB-1) 1. Total (1 wkt, 12.4 overs) 89. </p>.<p>Bowling: A Mithun 2-0-11-1, Prasidh Krishna 3-0-22-0, V Koushik 2-0-17-0, Shreyas Gopal 2.4-0-17-0, Pravin Dubey 1-0-9-0, J Suchith 2-0-12-0. </p>.<p>Result: Punjab won by nine wickets. </p>
<p>Karnataka's batting came a cropper once again as the defending champions suffered a humiliating nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Punjab in the quarterfinal to crash out of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The first-ever game at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium -- the biggest cricket venue in the world with 1,10,000 capacity -- turned out to be a drab affair. Put into bat, Karnataka were bundled out for 87 with Aniruddha Joshi (27, 34b, 2x4) being the only batsman to have crossed the 20-run mark. </p>.<p>Incidentally, the two men who fashioned Punjab's win over Karnataka in the Group stage, were the star performers in the last-eight encounter as well. Pacer Siddharth Kaul rocked the top-order to finish with 4-0-15-3 before Prabhsimran Singh hammered an unbeaten 37-ball 49 (2x4, 36) to help Punjab knock off the target with 41 balls to spare. </p>.<p>The scorecard gives the impression of a stellar bowling show from Punjab. But the fact is the Karnataka players gift-wrapped their wickets courtesy of some horrendous batting. Captain Karun Nair (12) appeared clueless as he top-edged one to mid-off fielder Gurkeerat Singh while attempting a flick off Sandeep Sharma in the third over. Just two balls later, Kaul triggered Karnataka's collapse. </p>.<p>Devdutt Padikkal (11), who made room to reach out to a short ball, didn't connect well and offered a catch to Gurkeerat again at mid-off. The Punjab all-rounder did well to rush forward and dive to pouch the catch. A ball later, another fielding brilliance put Punjab in command. </p>.<p>Pavan Deshpande, coming in for Rohan Kadam, uppishly flicked a delivery off Kaul, and Mayank Markande jumped to his right to complete a fine catch. Soon, BR Sharath, replacing the struggling wicketkeeper-batsman Shrijith KL, edged one to first slip to hand Arshdeep Singh his first wicket of the game. </p>.<p>The Punjab attack got the ball to move and maintained a disciplined line to keep the pressure on Karnataka. None of the batsmen, apart from Joshi, showed the requisite intent to forge a partnership and take the innings deep.</p>.<p>Even an inexperienced Ramandeep Singh, with no threatening pace or variations, troubled Karnataka. Shreyas Gopal poked one to the wicketkeeper without any foot movement to join the frustrated dug-out. The medium-pacer then had J Suchith caught down the leg side. Joshi, running out of partners, went for a slog sweep but saw his stumps rattled by a well-disguised googly off leggie Markande. </p>.<p>The in-form Prabhsimran then made short work of the target to put Punjab in the semifinal, thereby ending Karnataka's campaign marred by poor batting. </p>.<p>SCORE BOARD </p>.<p>KARNATAKA: Devdutt Padikkal c Gurkeerat b Kaul 11 (10b, 2x4), Karun Nair c Gurkeerat b Sandeep 12 (9b, 2x4), BR Sharath c Abhishek b Arshdeep 2 (3b), Pavan Deshpande c Markande b Kaul 0 (2b), Aniruddha b Markande 27 (34b, 2x4), Shreyas Gopal c Prabhsimran b Ramandeep 13 (11b, 2x4), J Suchith c Prabhsimran b Ramandeep 8 (10b, 1x4), Pravin Dubey b Arshdeep 9 (9b), A Mithun c & b Kaul 2 (8b), V Koushik (not out) 0, Prasidh Krishna c & b Sandeep 1 (5b). Extras (W-2) 2. Total (all out, 17.2 overs) 87. </p>.<p>Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Nair), 2-26 (Padikkal), 3-26 (Deshpande), 4-26 (Sharath), 5-51 (Shreyas), 6-72 (Suchith), 7-84 (Aniruddha), 8-86 (Dubey), 9-86 (Mithun). </p>.<p>Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 2.2-0-17-2, Arshdeep Singh 3-0-16-2, Siddharth Kaul 4-0-15-3, Harpreet Brar 1-0-5-0, Ramandeep Singh 4-0-22-2, Mayank Markande 3-0-12-1. </p>.<p>PUNJAB: Abhishek Sharma c Padikkal b Mithun 4 (6b, 1x4), Prabhsimran Singh (not out) 49 (37b, 2x4, 3x6), Mandeep Singh (not out) 35 (33b, 4x4, 1x6). Extra (LB-1) 1. Total (1 wkt, 12.4 overs) 89. </p>.<p>Bowling: A Mithun 2-0-11-1, Prasidh Krishna 3-0-22-0, V Koushik 2-0-17-0, Shreyas Gopal 2.4-0-17-0, Pravin Dubey 1-0-9-0, J Suchith 2-0-12-0. </p>.<p>Result: Punjab won by nine wickets. </p>