Ludhiana: Kerala have entered the pre-quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament with a five-wicket win over Meghalaya at Mullanpur on Saturday.
Needing a big win in their final Group C match to stay in contention, Kerala restricted Meghalaya to 100/8 and then chased down the target in just 12.2 overs.
Spinners Vaiskah Chandran and S Midhun returned identical figures of 2/18.
Though Mohammed Azharuddeen (14) and captain Sanju Samson (four) fell in pursuit of quick runs, opener Vishnu Vinod's 12-ball 27 set up the thumping win. Sachin Baby chipped in with 28 off 24 balls.
The fact that they were home and dry with 46 balls to spare boosted Kerala's net run rate.
Kerala, Haryana and Services finished with 20 points each from seven games. But Kerala were placed second on net run rate. Haryana that finished third also progressed to the pre-quarterfinals. Karnataka topped the group with 24 points.
Kerala had beaten Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir before today's win. They had lost to Services and Maharashtra.
Kerala will take on Saurashtra in the pre-quarterfinals. Mumbai, Delhi, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Bengal that finished top of their respective groups have advanced to the quarterfinals.
