In the end, it was a case of ‘so near yet so far’ for Tamil Nadu.
R. Satish’s team won its final Group ‘A’ fixture, against Hyderabad, in comprehensive fashion on Sunday but could not progress to the Super League of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on account of an inferior net run-rate (NRR) vis-à-vis Gujarat.
Tamil Nadu, which chose to field at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Jamtha, restricted Hyderabad to 140 for eight.
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Seamer J. Kousik (3-0-20-3), and spinners Rahil Shah (4-0-15-2) and M. Ashwin (4-0-18-3) were the star performers.
Four of the top five batsmen then shared the burden as the ‘Yellow Brigade’ won by four wickets to accumulate 16 points from six games. Its NRR read +1.136.
Alas, it wasn’t enough as Gujarat hammered Haryana in double-quick time at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Civil Lines. First, Rudra Pratap Singh (4-0-16-3) and Jasprit Bumrah (4-0-10-3) combined to dismiss Amit Mishra & Co. for just 95. Then, Parthiv Patel (51 n.o., 20b, 8x4, 2x6) and Rohit Dahiya (40 n.o., 15b, 6x4, 2x6) smashed those runs in just 6.4 overs for a nine-wicket victory and, more importantly, a superior NRR (+1.559).
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Left ruing by its shocking defeats to Vidarbha and Himachal Pradesh in the competition, the Tamil Nadu team’s collective eyes, incidentally, were on these very teams. It was a hoping for a Vidarbha defeat alright, but also for a narrow one so as to stay ahead of Himachal Pradesh on the NRR.
That wasn’t to be as the host secured its fifth win on the trot with a 27-run submission of Himachal Pradesh in second match of the day at Civil Lines. And as a result, Vidarbha topped the group with 20 points (+0.017).
Opener Jitesh Sharma helped himself to a stroke-filled 106 (65b, 12x4, 3x6) as Vidarbha posted 183 for six. Off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (4-0-18-4) then led the way as Himachal Pradesh was bowled out for 156 in the last over.
Sunday’s defeat marked the end of an underwhelming season for Tamil Nadu. It had failed to make the quarterfinal stage of the Ranji Trophy and had lost to eventual champion Gujarat in the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The scores: Hyderabad 140 for eight in 20 overs (Chama Milind 26, G. Hanuma Vihari 26, Jaweed Ali 35, J. Kousik three for 20, Rahil Shah two for 15, M. Ashwin three for 18) lost to Tamil Nadu 141 for six in 18.4 overs (Abhinav Mukund 41, B. Aparajith 26, Dinesh Karthik 43, W. Antony Das 24 n.o., Akash Bhandari two for 20). Hyderabad 0 (8; -0.270), Tamil Nadu 4 (16; +1.136) .
Haryana 95 in 20 overs (Mohit Hooda 24, R.P. Singh three for 16, Jasprit Bumrah three for 10, Hardik Patel two for 19) lost to Gujarat 99 for one in 6.4 overs (Parthiv Patel 51 n.o., Rohit Dahiya 40 n.o.) Haryana 0 (4; -1.406), Gujarat 4 (16; +1.559) .
Vidarbha 183 for six in 20 overs (Jitesh Sharma 106; Akshay Chauhan two for 50, Pankaj Jaswal two for 40, Bipul Sharma two for 23) bt Himachal Pradesh 156 in 19.5 overs (Raghav Dhawan 43, Bipul Sharma 58, Rajneesh Gurbani two for 35, Ravi Jangid two for 34, Akshay Wakhare four for 18). Vidarbha 4 (20; +0.017), Himachal Pradesh 0 (12; -0.025) .