Anshu Jain stars in Rajasthan win

Rajasthan reached the semifinals after registering a convincing six-wicket victory over Karnataka at Ferozeshah Kotla ground on 21 March 2007. Chasing a modest target of 201, Rajasthan rode on Anshu Jain's unbeaten knock of 76 to emerge victors in the one-sided contest.

Put in to bat, at one stage Karnataka were struggling at 66 for 4. But, an impressive 116-run partnership between seasoned Balachandra Akhil and Sunil Joshi for the eighth wicket rescued the side after a humiliating batting collapse.

While Akhil hit a blazing 86 off 73 balls, Joshi batted sensibly for his 40 runs to help Karnataka reach a respectable score of 200.

The Rajasthan seamers exploited the early morning moisture to trigger the Karnataka batting collapse. While Afroz Khan took three wickets, Shailender Gehlot and skipper Mohammed Aslam bagged two each.

Rajasthan batsmen were hardly troubled during their run chase, which became easier due to the sloppy fielding of Karnataka. Openers Siddarth Joshi (25) and Rohit Sharma (42) laid the foundation with a quick 52-run opening stand.

Later, Jain and Rajesh Bishnoi (42) added 93 runs for the fourth wicket to seal win for their team.