Wicketkeeper-batsman Upendra Yadav proved to be the thorn in Tamil Nadu’s flesh as he guided Uttar Pradesh to an exciting five-wicket victory in the Syed Musthaq Ali Trophy at the Kariyavattom Sports Hub on Monday.
Chasing a target of 169, Uttar Pradesh romped home in the Group B encounter as Upendra plundered runs at will through the last three overs as Tamil Nadu suffered to its first loss in three matches in the tournament.
In fact, Upendra was in smashing form all day. He effected two stumpings and took a great catch during the Tamil Nadu innings after it was asked to bat. The early innings was built on fine half-centuries from M. Vijay and Dinesh Karthick before Tamil Nadu lost its way towards the end.
The start, too, was quite bad as opener N. Jagadeesan perished after contributing only two in a first-wicket stand dominated by Vijay, who made his intentions right from the word go. The best phase of the Tamil Nadu innings came about as Vijay and Karthick were engaged in a 75-run stand for the second wicket.
However, after the fall of Karthick who top-scored with 61, in the second ball of the 17th over, the others were unable to use the platform for the good of their side. The only exception being Washington Sundar, who after having figured in India’s triumph against Bangladesh in Nagpur on Sunday, travelled all night to reach at 7.30 a.m. on Monday. He contributed 28 off 14 deliveries.
Uttar Pradesh kept itself on par, denying the rival bowlers as initially Akashnath Deep and Samarth Audhendra Singh, and Upendra and Shubham Chaubey flourished without any trouble and reached the home stretch requiring 33 off the last three overs.
Uttar Pradesh by then had only lost three wickets and thereby was in an advantageous position.
Upendra utilised the opportunity well as he took 16 runs in the 18th over off a wayward T. Natarajan, putting his team on top.
However, G. Periyasamy came up with a tight penultimate over, conceding just two runs and pushing the encounter to an exciting finish. Natarajan, however, was unable to stand up to the pressure in the final over as Upendra helped himself to three towering sixes and a two to take Uttar Pradesh to its first win in two matches, with a ball to spare.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu 169/ 7 in 20 overs (Dinesh Karthick 61, M. Vijay 51, Washington Sundar 28, Mohsin Khan 2/13, Ankit Rajpoot 2/35, Kuldeep Yadav 2/37) lost to Uttar Pradesh 174 for five in 19.5 overs (Upendra Yadav 70 n.o., Shubham Chaubey 35).
