THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tamil Nadu have carried their good form into the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. On Saturday in Thiruvananthapuram, they made it two wins out of two, by beating Rajasthan by 39 runs. Tamil Nadu are second in Group B behind Vidarbha. Rajasthan occupy third position in the T20 tournament.
After setting a target of 170, courtesy knocks of 48 from N Jagadeesan and Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu bowlers were on the money. Handing the new ball to left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore proved fruitful as he dismissed opener Manender Singh with his second delivery. The 23-year-old also accounted for Ankit Lamba and Aditya Garhwal in his second and third over to leave Rajasthan at 23/3 in 4.5 overs. He ended with 3/19 including a maiden.
For Rajasthan, skipper Mahipal Lomror tried to steady the ship with a 36-ball 32 but did not get support. They kept losing wickets to finish at 116/8. Pacers T Natarajan, G Periyaswamy and leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin picked up a wicket each. Earlier, Tamil Nadu got off to a good start with three thirty-plus contributions from the top-order. After Murali Vijay departed for a 29-ball 35 in the ninth over, Karthik set the stage on fire. The 34-year-old smashed five fours and two sixes in his 30-ball knock and shared a 48-run partnership with Jagadeesan for the second wicket. The duo helped the team cross 100 inside 15 overs.
With a 37-ball 48, Jagadeesan redeemed himself after accumulating just 53 in the first four matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. An 11-ball 15 from Vijay Shankar and M Shahrukh Khan’s unbeaten 16 off 13 saw Tamil Nadu post 169/5. Baba Aparajith, who pulled a hamstring while batting on Friday, was replaced by C Hari Nishaanth in the XI. Tamil Nadu will play Uttar Pradesh on Monday. Brief scores: TN 169/5 in 20 ovs (Karthik 48, Jagadeesan 48) bt Rajasthan 116/8 in 20 ovs (Lomror 32; Sai Kishore 3/19).
Delhi-Odisha match washed out
The Group E match between Delhi and Odisha was abandoned without a ball bowled in Surat. Both teams’ opening games were washed out on Friday. Subranshu Senapati’s men will next play Sikkim and Delhi will be up against Nagaland, on Monday.