Parvez Rasool (71, 70b, 3x4, 2x6) struck an unbeaten fifty as Jammu & Kashmir upstaged Tamil Nadu in an edge-of-the-seat thriller to win by four wickets in a Vijay Hazare match here on Sunday. This was J&K's second win of the tournament. Its only other victory came against Rajasthan.
Chasing 169, in a match shortened to 41-overs-a-side due to wet outfield, J&K was dealt early blows when it lost opener Ahmad Banday and No. 3 Ian Chauhan for just 31 on the board.
Shubham Khajuria (24, 40b, 1x4) steered the ship briefly but off-spinner C.V. Varun ended his vigil by bowling him through the gate.
Parvez Rasool then joined Shubham Pundir to first bail the team out from crisis and then put the opposition bowlers under the pump.
The J&K skipper brought up the team 100 with a six over mid-wicket off Washington Sundar. The 67-run fourth-wicket stand, though, came to an end when Pundir was caught off Varun.
Read: As it happened
The dismissal kept Tamil Nadu in the hunt, especially with 14 required off the last two overs. But Rasool held his nerve to carry the team home with three balls to spare.
Varun was the pick of the Tamil Nadu bowlers, returning figures of 3 for 34.
Nazir shines as TN stutters
Earlier, Tamil Nadu — put in to bat — started poorly, losing opener N. Jagadeesan cheaply, but Murali Vijay (44, 50b, 3x4, 1x6) and Abhinav Mukund (49, 63b, 5x4) steadied things with a 82-run second-wicket partnership.
Vijay, not in the India squad for the two-Test series against West Indies, demonstrated his hitting ability when he dispatched seamer Rasik Salam for a brace of boundaries.
He began by driving Salam through mid-off before going down on one knee and hammering one through the covers. A mighty heave over cow corner off Pervez Rasool stood out.
On a slow wicket, both batsmen ran the ones and twos with alacrity. Mukund, continuing his run glut, swept, pulled and drove his way to 49 before being clean bowled by left-arm spinner Wasim Raza. Vijay followed suit, holing out to the fielder at covers off Umar Nazir.
Moments later, Nazir got rid of captain Vijay Shankar to leave Tamil Nadu tottering at 110/4 in 22.5 overs.
But Baba Indrajith (28, 35b, 3x4) struck a slew of lusty blows and together with Washington Sundar, put up 34 runs for the fifth wicket before becoming Raza's second victim of the match.
In the latter half of the innings, Nazir's 4 for 26 triggered a collapse which saw Tamil Nadu lose its last five wickets for just 24. Nazir is a skiddy bowler who used the short-pitched delivery to good effect. His measly spell was key in ensuring Tamil Nadu was all out in 39.4 overs.
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