Surat, Nov 29: Pacer Abhimanyu Mithun, openers Devdutt Padikkal and K L Rahul starred as defending champions Karnataka romped into the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy after thrashing Haryana by 8 wickets in the first semi-final here on Friday.

The highlight of the match was Mithun (5/39) taking five wickets in an over including a hat-trick and registering his name in the record books.

Mithun became the first bowler in the domestic circuit to claim hat-trick in all the formats.

He had snared a hat-trick in the Vijay Hazare (national ODI championship) final against Tamil Nadu earlier this year.

The Karnataka pacer did not have a good time until he bowled his last over where he prevailed over the Haryana batsman.

In the 20th over of the innings, he dismissed Himanshu Rana (61) and Rahul Tewatia (32) off the first two balls and completed his hat-trick by sending back Sumit Kumar (0).

There was more drama in store as Mithun got a wicket on the fourth ball, that of Amit Mishra (0), and then sent back Jayant Yadav (0) on the final ball of the over.

Asked to bat first, Haryana piled up 194/8 on the board but Karnataka chased it in 15 overs, thanks to blazing half centuries by openers Devdutt Padikkal (87) and K L Rahul (66), who took the opposition attack to the cleaners.

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Gurugram (PTI): Several Gurugram schools received another hoax bomb threat emails on Wednesday morning, prompting police to launch searches on the premises.

Police said the email was sent by the 'Khalistan National Army', with threats issued to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to declare April 29 as the "40th Khalistan Declaration Day". It also threatened to bomb the Red Fort in Delhi.

Police said it was a hoax as no suspicious items were found after an intensive search.

Several schools, including Shri Ram, Amity, and the HDFC school, received threatening emails at 8.33 am, when classes had already begun, police said.

The school administrations became aware of the threats around 9 am and immediately informed the police, a senior police officer said.

The schools immediately implemented emergency protocols, with many declaring a holiday and asking parents to take their children home safely, the officer said.

A large number of anxious parents gathered outside the schools, as police and bomb squad teams reached the spots and started checks.

"Around 10 schools have approached the police from morning until now over bomb threats. Police teams are alert, and searches are underway on all the premises", the officer said.

As soon as the information about this email was received, police in Gurugram and Delhi swung into action and started investigation.

Schools immediately implemented emergency protocols upon receiving the mail. Many schools declared a holiday and sent messages to parents, asking them to take their children home. Large crowds of parents gathered outside the schools.

The schools were sanitised by sending a bomb disposal squad as well as a dog squad.

A senior police officer said that police teams thoroughly searched the school premises, classrooms, buildings, and surrounding areas. No suspicious objects or explosive materials were found during the investigation.

"Police teams are seriously investigating the entire matter. Cyber experts are being consulted to determine the authenticity of the email, its source, and the identity of the sender", added the officer.

This is the third time since January that schools have received fake bomb threats.

In March, at least a dozen schools in the city received bomb threat emails, which later turned out to be hoaxes.

Similarly, on January 28, as many as 13 schools received hoax bomb threats via email, forcing authorities to evacuate campuses and suspend classes.

Last month, police arrested a Bangladeshi national whose email ID was allegedly used to make a bomb threat for some payment.