Suresh Kumar's 82 rescues Tamil Nadu

Suresh Kumar hit 82 off 44 balls to revive Tamil Nadu's floundering innings and lead them into the semi-finals with a tense three-wicket win against Himachal Pradesh in Indore. Chasing 153 for victory, Tamil Nadu had slumped to 45 for 6 after 8.1 overs, and were staring at certain defeat. Kumar, however, found a partner in MK Sivakumar and smashed six sixes and five fours in his half-century. He added 63 with Sivakumar and another unbeaten 50 with R Sutesh to secure victory with two balls to spare.

Himachal Pradesh had also struggled in the early part of their innings, losing their first two wickets with the score on 18 and then slumping further to 47 for 4. Vineet Indulkar top-scored with 47 and Hemant Dogra contributed 36 to lead Himachal to 152 for 6.

Tamil Nadu will take on Maharashtra in the first semi-final.

Delhi notched up a comfortable win over Assam, beating them by 35 runs, to book a place in the semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. Ankur Julka made an unbeaten 79 off 47 balls, striking 10 fours and two sixes, to help Delhi reach a challenging 170. Julka was supported by captain Puneet Bisht, and while Puneet Mehra struck some meaty blows at the death to take his team to what proved an adequate total.

Assam were dealt two early blows but opener Parvez Aziz resisted with a fluent 57, which included eight fours and two sixes. However, only two other batsmen reached double-figures, as Farman grabbed four wickets with fast bowler Parvinder Awana backing him up with three scalps. The Assam innings folded for 135 in the 18th over.

Delhi will take on Hyderabad in the second semi-final.