Sai Kishore bowls TN to crucial victory

LUCKNOW: Riding on a brilliant spell from lanky left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore who picked up three wickets for six runs, Tamil Nadu earned a crucial 12-run win over Jharkhand in its penultimate league match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (Elite Group E) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Chasing 139 for victory, openers Ishan Kishan and Pankaj Kumar gave Jharkhand a good start with a 46-run stand before Kishan was dismissed.

Pankaj and Virat Singh then ensured Jharkhand was cruising at one stage at 71/1 in the 11th over when Washington Sundar removed Pankaj.

The match first turned here as TN struck thrice in quick succession to reduce Jharkhand to 75/4.

Then in the 16th over, Jharkhand lost three wickets with Sai Kishore taking two as he bowled a sensational over to reduce Jharkhand to 90/8.

Virat fought valiantly till the last over with an unbeaten half-century (52 n.o., 38b, 6x4, 1x6) but TN by then had done enough to get home, to stay alive in the competition.

Earlier, electing to bat, TN’s batting unit once again failed as it was bowled out for 138 in 20 overs. B. Sai Sudharsan top-scored making 47 while Washington Sundar chipped in with a valuable 22 towards the end to help TN to a respectable total.

Meanwhile, in another match, Delhi’s Yash Dhull smashed the daylights out of Hyderabad attack with a 36-ball 73 to help his team record a comprehensive 46-run victory in a group B league match.

Dhull, who has been in great form in the tournament, hit half a dozen of fours and an equal number of sixes to guide Delhi to an imposing 196 for 6 in 20 overs.

Ayush Badoni’s 23 off 10 balls at the death and Himmat Singh’s 47 off 39 at the start also helped in beefing up the score.

In reply, Hyderabad scored only 150 as main batter NT Tilak Varma (13) endured a rare failure.

BRIEF SCORES:Tamil Nadu 138 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 47, S Nadeem 4/12, V Singh 3/22) bt Jharkhand 126/8 in 20 overs (V Singh 52, R Sai Kishore 3/6)