Himachal blows Tamil Nadu away

Prashant Chopra’s unbeaten 68 guides Himachal Pradesh to a seven-wicket win against R.Ashwin’s side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 fixture on Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu captain R. Ashwin remained wicketless in his four overs for 38 runs; with the bat, he scored 14 off 16 balls.

In a flat, listless display, defending a combative 138 on a tricky pitch where the ball gripped, Tamil Nadu went down by seven wickets to Himachal Pradesh in a Group `B’ match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali competition here on Wednesday.

With only eight points in four games and a below par run-rate of - 0.644, Tamil Nadu’s chances of qualification are bleak. The side has a serious issue with consistency.

The tactics were baffling too. On a surface where there was turn and inconsistent bounce, it was intriguing why skipper R. Ashwin sent down so many deliveries of leg-spin, going for runs in the process.

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Tamil Nadu, at crunch time, required its skipper to bowl what he does best — precise off-spin with turn, bounce and drift. Ashwin went for 38 in his four overs, without picking a wicket.

In contrast, Washington Sundar sent four tight overs of off-spin for 19 runs. And paceman Abhishek Tanwar contained and struck. A parsimonious spell from Ashwin could have put Himachal under pressure.

To make matters worse, N.S. Chaturved, at extra cover, dropped a sitter to reprieve Prashant Chopra, on 42 then, when the opener miscued left-arm spinner Sai Kishore. The lapse summed up Tamil Nadu’s day.

Chopra, using his feet and striking the ball fluently, remained unbeaten on 68 (53b, 4x4, 2x6). There was a touch of elegance in the manner he found the gaps.

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Ekant Sen struck the ball handsomely too during his 35 and Rishi Dhawan delivered the big blows in his 11-ball unbeaten 22.

Earlier, M. Vijay’s pleasing 58-ball 77 (10x4, 1x6) was an innings of poise, balance and cultured strokeplay. He was light on his feet, timing the ball through the open spaces. Some of Vijay’s straight-hits and off-drives underlined quality.

But then, the rest of the Tamil Nadu batting came unstuck against a disciplined Himachal attack in which left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar was the pick, conceding just 10 runs in his four overs while scalping Ashwin.

Tamil Nadu did not get its batting order right. The in-form Washington should have opened and sending Sai as a pinch hitter at No. 3 was a needless ploy. And the supposedly big-hitter, R. Vivek, walked in at No. 9 and failed to open his account. The role definition has to be clear.