Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023-24: Kaul’s fifer trumps Karthik’s fighting knock as Punjab ends Tamil Nadu’s winning streak

In an opening spell of 6-0-35-4, Kaul snared a wicket each in four successive overs to give Punjab the upper hand while defending a total of 251.

Tamil Nadu’s Dinesh Karthik is bowled by Punjab’s Siddharth Kaul. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Jersey No. 19 turned out to be the flavour of the day at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy. In a battle of both the veterans with the same jerseys, Siddharth Kaul, the Punjab pacer, outshone Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik to help Punjab keep its qualification hopes alive from Group E of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

In an opening spell of 6-0-35-4, Kaul snared a wicket each in four successive overs to give Punjab the upper hand while defending a total of 251. Karthik, taking guard at 40 for four in the ninth over, then played the lone hand with a trademark 93 (82b, 13x4, 4x6) to give Tamil Nadu an outside chance.

However, Kaul came back to jag one back and remove the middle-and-leg stump bail to ensure four vital points for Punjab and end Tamil Nadu’s unbeaten run.

The chase never really took off for Tamil Nadu as the top-order staged a meek surrender yet again. While Kaul was accurate to see off both the openers in a hurry, B. Aparajith and Vijay Shankar gave Ramandeep Singh catching practice at short midwicket.

Just when Karthik and Indrajith looked to get the innings on track, left-arm spinner Prerit Dutta dismissed Indrajith (stumped after being drawn forward with one that turned slightly) and Shahrukh Khan (bowled off an arm ball) off successive balls to leave Karthik too much to do.

Earlier in the morning, Prabhsimran Singh and Abhishek Sharma went after the Tamil Nadu pacers to give Punjab a quickfire start. The duo’s 80-run association - before Abhishek (38, 23b, 4x4, 2x6) got out to R. Sai Kishore after spin was introduced in the fifth over - ended in the eighth over.

Varun Chakravarthy bambloozled Prabhsimran (58, 39b, 7x4, 3x6) to end his dangerous knock by trapping him in front of the wickets in the 13th over. The TN spin trio then controlled the middle overs to perfection as Tamil Nadu clawed its way back into the game.

Just when captain Mandeep Singh appeared to be running out partners, Kaul came to the rescue as the duo’s vital 59-run association for the ninth wicket meant Punjab was eventually bowled out for 251 in the 46th over.