Tamil Nadu loses to Gujarat in SMAT

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu lost its second successive match in Group B of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, going down to Gujarat by 19 runs in Indore on Friday. The latest defeat has pushed TN to fifth in the eight-team group with 8 points from four matches with two wins and two losses.

In what turned out to be a low-scoring match, Gujarat, opting to bat first, scored 133 for nine with Hemang Patel scoring an unbeaten 50 (34b, 4x4, 3x6). Middle-order batter Vishal Jayswal scored 32 (18b, 4x4, 2x6). Another useful contribution came from opener Urvil Patel who scored a quickfire 26 (25b, 2x4, 1x6). TN pacer Sandeep Warrier was the most economical of the five bowlers employed by skipper M Shahrukh Khan as he finished with figures of 4-0-15-2. Set to chase 134, TN got off to a shaky start, struggling at 29 for three. Gujarat left-arm medium pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla was the pick of the bowlers taking four for 21 and he received good support from the seasoned Chintan Gaja who picked up three for 31. TN’s in-form openers B Indrajith (17) and N Jagadeesan (4) got out off successive balls with the team score on 21 in 2.1 overs. Shahrukh and Rithik Easwaran tried to steady the ship by adding 41 runs for the fourth wicket before India leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi got rid of Easwaran. The experienced Vijay Shankar’s run out in the 12th over didn’t help the team’s cause as TN’s lower-order collapsed losing five wickets for the last 30 runs with seven balls remaining.

Brief scores: Gujarat 133/9 in 20 overs (H Patel 50*) bt Tamil Nadu 114 in 18.5 overs (A Nagwaswalla 4/21, C Gaja 3/31)