Varun Aaron let out a roar and lifted his arms in triumph. It was a big kill.
There was despair at the other end. Tamil Nadu captain B. Indrajith’s heroic century had concluded with a miscued hit off Aaron’s slower ball.
The moment was huge. The humdinger was won and lost at that point.
Indrajith (101, 90b, 7x4, 1x6) had played an innings of footwork, timing, composure and heart. For him and his team, the end was tragic.
The thriller at the SSN College ground twisted and turned before concluding in an explosive finish.
Pursuing a demanding 308 for a win, Tamil Nadu finished eight runs short in Tuesday’s crucial Elite Group C contest of the Vijay Hazare one-day competition.
Eventful chase
The chase was eventful. A fired-up Aaron, generating pace, struck early. N. Jagadeesan got a mean delivery that lifted and left him.
The left-handed Abhinav Mukund (63, 68b, 7x4, 1x6) cutting, driving and flicking crisply and B. Aparajith (38) promised much but could not kick on.
Indrajith revived the innings with the left-handed B. Anirudh (46) in a 99-run fifth-wicket association in 96 balls.
Yet, this was a day when Jhakhand kept finding wickets. Just when the match appeared to have swung Tamil Nadu’s way, Anirudh, top-edging an attempted whip, succumbed to skiddy seamer Monu Kumar.
And when M. Mohammad, 21 off 18, had set Tamil Nadu up for the final onslaught, he was picked up at deep mid-wicket off tidy left-arm spinner Anukul Roy.
Earlier, Ishan Kishan (85, 87b, 8x4, 3x6) won the toss and batted with responsibility and flair. Cautious at start where his opening partner Anand Singh (52, 75b, 9x4) dominated a stand of 83, the left-handed Kishan opened out with shots of tremendous bat-speed.
Another small-made southpaw Virat Singh launched into the bowling — there were four sixes in his 48 — before the big-built left-hander Sourabh Tiwary (54, 43b, 2x4, 4x6) delivered effortless blows, smoking left-arm spinner Sai Kishore for three sixes in an over, all in the mid-wicket region.
The scores: Bengal 129 in 38 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 34, Anustup Majumdar 33,Varun Choudhary three for 23, Arjun Sharma three for 30) lost to Services 130 for two in 22 overs (G. Rahul Singh 53 n.o., Rajat Paliwal 58 n.o.).
Services 4, Bengal 0 .
Jharkhand 307 for eight in 50 overs (Anand Singh 52, Ishan Kishan 85, Virat Singh 48, Saurabh Tiwary 54, C. V. Varun three for 61) beat Tamil Nadu 299 in 49.5 overs (Abhinav Mukund 63, B. Aparajith 38, B. Indrajith 101, B. Anirudh Sitaram 46, Varun Aaron three for 63, Anukul Roy three for 55).
Jharkhand 4, Tamil Nadu 0.
Rajasthan 179 for nine in 50 overs (Chetan Bist 44, Chandrapal Singh 82 n.o., Hardik Patel five for 22) lost to Gujarat 180 for two in 40 overs (Priyant Panchal 84, Kshitij Patel 89 n.o.).
Gujarat 4, Rajasthan 0 .
