2:22 PM IST| That's it in the Eden Gardens as Himachal Pradesh storms into the final of the SMAT 2022...Solid performance from Rishi Dhawan led side in all three departments as they edge past the strong Punjab side by 13 runs...

Rishi Dhawan led from the front as he picked up 3 wickets and broke the back of Punjab's batting line-up. And with this Himachal Pradesh will be playing for the first time in the final of SMAT history...With the bat, after a slow start, Himachal Pradesh has done well to post a good score on the board after being put into bat!

Himachal Pradesh openers struggled to score runs as they failed to take full advantage of the field restrictions. Punjab bowlers restricted Himachal Pradesh to 36/2 in the first six overs. It was Sumeet Verma who gave the innings impetus with his blistering half-century. His knock of 51 off 25 deliveries included 3 fours and 3 sixes and stitched a partnership of 45 runs for the fifth wicket alongside Akash Vasisht.

Though Nikhil Gangta failed to continue the momentum, Akash Vasisht and Pankaj Jaiswal smashed the bowlers all around the park as they propelled the team to 176/7 in their allotted 20 overs. For Punjab, Abhishek Sharma started off the bowling and finished with a spell of 4-0-20-2.

With the bat for Punjab, Shubman Gill looked a class apart as he played some fantastic shots at the start but he couldn't continue that for long as he ended up hitting the fuller length delivery straight into the hands of a deep square-leg fielder. Mandeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh were the other ones who showed some intent in the end but eventually, they failed to cross the line.

Mayank Dagar picked up a couple of important wickets in his 4 overs spell...KD Singh and Akash Vasisht picked a wicket each to help HP to cruise into the final of SMAT 2022...Stay tuned for the presentations!!!

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