The middle-order concerns coupled with Chirag Jani’s all-round show resulted in Tamil Nadu’s Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign coming to an abrupt halt with a 44-run loss against Saurashtra at the Gokulbhai Somabhai Patel Stadium.
Jani’s sterling show (52 n.o., 2x4, 4x6 & 3/53) overshadowed the other individual brilliances, including R. Sai Kishore’s handy work in both the departments, as Saurashtra avenged the last year’s semifinal loss to set up a semifinal clash versus Karnataka.
Having inserted Saurashtra in, Tamil Nadu bowlers continued to strike regularly. However, neither could they restrict the flow of runs nor could they force a mini-collapse. As a result, riding on opener Harvik Desai’s steady 61 and the 78-run association for the fifth wicket between Arpit Vasavada and Prerak Mankad, Saurashtra was placed at 240 for six in 46 overs.
Jani and skipper Jaydev Unadkat then cut loose, with Jani being severe on R. Sonu Yadav’s medium-pace. The last over saw Jani tonking Sonu for 24 runs, including three sixes on the on-side off the first three balls. As a result, Saurashtra’s total of 293 for eight required TN openers N. Jagadeesan and B. Sai Sudharsan to carry on their exploits from the league stage.
However, Chetan Sakariya jagged one back in to trap Jagadeesan lbw in the second over. And Unadkat’s policy of getting in seasoned left-arm spin of Dharmendrasinh Jadeja as early as the seventh overworked as he forced Sudharsan to nick a miscued cut to Desai behind the wickets.
Karnataka went from bad to worse as a confusion while running between the wickets between the twins resulted in B. Aparajith being run out in the next over. And the writing was on the wall in the 11th over when Dinesh Karthik miscued a sweep off Jadeja to short fine-leg.
At 51 for four, Indrajith and Sai Kishore brought TN back into the game with a breezy 113-run partnership. But both of them were dismissed at inopportune moments as Saurashtra was in control of the second innings. The big-hitters had too much on their platter as Tamil Nadu eventually folded up for 249 with two overs remaining.
Brief scores:
In Nadiad: Saurashtra 293/8 (Harvik Desai 61, Chirag Jani 52 n.o., Arpit Vasavada 51) bt Tamil Nadu 249 in 48 overs (R. Sai Kishore 74, Baba Indrajith 53, Chirag Jani 3/53).
In Ahmedabad: Punjab 235 in 50 overs (Abhishek Sharma 109, Sanvir Singh 39, Vidwath Kaverappa 4/40) lost to Karnataka 238/6 in 49.2 overs (R. Samarth 71, Shreyas Gopal 42).
Maharashtra 330/5 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 220 n.o., Ankeet Bawane 37, Azim Kazi 37, Kartik Tyagi 3/66) bt Uttar Pradesh 272 in 47.4 overs (Aryan Juyal 159, Rajvardhan Hangargekar 5/53).
Jammu & Kashmir 350/7 (Henan Nazir 124, Shubham Khajuria 120, Fazil Rashid 53) lost to Assam 354/3 in 46.1 overs (Riyan Parag 174, Rishav Das 114 n.o.)
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