Tamil Nadu keeps hopes alive with victory

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu kept alive its hopes of progressing to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy knockouts with a 56-run win over Chandigarh at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow on Thursday.

Invited to bat first in the Elite Group E match, double defending champion Tamil Nadu put 161 for five on the board, riding on skipper Baba Aparajith’s 67 (55 balls, 4 fours, 5 sixes). In the second essay, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy (3/24) and the new-ball duo of Thangarasu Natarajan (2/11) and Sandeep Warrier (2/17) sizzled as Tamil Nadu bundled Chandigarh out for 105 in 18.1 overs.

As a result, Tamil Nadu, with four victories and two losses, ended its first-round commitment with 16 points. Bengal leads the group with 18 points while Chhattisgarh is third with 14 points, with both teams having a match in hand.

In the first essay, Tamil Nadu was in a spot of bother at 69 for three in the 10th over, when Aparajith joined hands with Washington Sundar (27). The right-left combination put on 73 runs for the fourth wicket, before Aparajith was sent back to the hut in the 18th over by pacer Sandeep Sharma. Sandeep was the pick of the Punjab bowlers, finishing with excellent figures of 3/14 off his full quota of four overs.

In the run chase, Chandigarh was never in the hunt as it lost half its team for 59 in the 11th over. No.5 batter Bhagmender Lather (38 not out off 35 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) helped Chandigarh reach a respectable total in the lop-sided match.

BRIEF SCORES: Tamil Nadu 161/6 in 20 overs (B Aparajith 67, Sandeep 3/14) bt Chandigarh 105 in 18.1 overs (Varun 3/24, T Natarajan 2/11, S Warrier 2/17)

Senior Women’s T20: TN beats Gujarat

MD Thirushkamini scored a match-winning 47 as Tamil Nadu defeated Gujarat by 47 runs in the Senior Women’s T20 Group B sixth round match in Guwahati on Thursday.

BRIEF SCORES: Tamil Nadu 123/3 in 20 overs (MD Thirushkamini 47, R Abarna 22, L Nethra 22*) bt Gujarat 76/4 in 20 overs (Bhavana Goplani 25, Hrutu Patel 22*)