TN decimates Karnataka in quarters
Tamil Nadu continued its dominance in domestic white-ball cricket as it reached the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22, hammering arch-rival Karnataka by 151 runs at the KL Saini Stadium here on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu flexed its batting might with opener Narayan Jagadeesan (102 off 101 balls, 9 fours, 1 six) hitting a well-compiled hundred, following which R Sai Kishore made the most of the promotion to No.3 by hitting a 71-ball 61 (4 fours, 3 sixes). Vice-captain Jagadeesan and Sai Kishore stitched a 147-run partnership for the second wicket as they helped set a solid platform for Tamil Nadu.
Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik provided impetus in the middle overs, hitting a 37-ball 44 (4 fours, 2 sixes), as the Vijay Shankar-led Tamil Nadu never took the foot off the pedal. Baba Indrajith chipped in with 31 (24 balls, 3 fours), but Tamil Nadu lost its skipper Vijay Shankar for just 3 runs.
However, No.7 batter Shahrukh Khan was in red-hot touch, hitting 79 not out from only 39 balls by smashing 6 sixes and 7 boundaries. Shahrukh’s cameo in the last five overs helped Tamil Nadu post a mammoth total of 354. Karnataka’s run-chase never got going, with pacer Sandeep Warrier picking up the big wicket of Devdutt Padikkal for nought as early as the second over. Fast bowler Ragupathy Silambarasan (4 for 36 off 8 overs) ended opener Rohan Kadam’s (24) stay while spinners Sai Kishore (1 for 32) and Manimaran Siddharth (1 for 46) prized out the wickets of KV Siddharth (29) and captain Manish Pandey (9) respectively.
Silambarasan struck in the middle-overs, removing the inform Abhinav Manohar (34) and wicketkeeper S Sharath (43 off 65 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes). Off-spinner Washington Sundar (3 for 43 off 9 overs) then ran through the lower-middle order, picking up 3 wickets, as Karnataka was bundled out for 203.
BRIEF SCORES: Tamil Nadu 354/8 in 50 overs (N Jagadeesan 102, Shahrukh 79*, Sai Kishore 61, Karthik 44, P Dubey 3/67) bt Karnataka 203 in 39 overs (S Sharath 43, R Silambarasan 4/36, Washington 3/43)