Gujarat’s bowlers rise to the event in victory over Tamil Nadu

Hemang Patel starred in Gujarat’s win over Tamil Nadu in a Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy match in Indore on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

In a sport of slender margins in Group B of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Friday, the dismissals of Vijay Shankar and M. Shahrukh Khan within the house of 10 deliveries proved pricey for Tamil Nadu. In pursuit of 134 in opposition to Gujarat on the Emerald Heights International School floor, the southern aspect withered away after that to lose by 19 runs. This is its second successive defeat within the T20 match.

As a lot as Tamil Nadu will rue not getting over the road, the Axar Patel-led staff deserves immense credit score for digging its heels in and wresting the initiative. With the bat, Hemang Patel performed a pivotal knock (50 n.o., 34b, 4×4, 3×6) to take Gujarat to 133 for 9.

Though contributions from the complete bowling pack adopted, left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla was the standout with figures of three.5-0-21-4. He acquired the prized scalp of Tamil Nadu captain Shahrukh, and ended proceedings within the penultimate over with a full ball that castled Gurjapneet Singh.

Chasing for the primary time on this match, Tamil Nadu wanted considered one of its high 4 to bat for a majority of the overs. That was unlikely, nonetheless, as soon as it was decreased to 29 for 3.

There was a restoration when S. Rithik Easwaran, promoted to No. 4 to carry again the skilled duo of Shahrukh and Vijay Shankar, stitched collectively a 41-run stand with the skipper. But when the chase was seemingly in management, Rithik miscued a slog sweep off Ravi Bishnoi to Saurav Chauhan at cowl.

Not lengthy after, a misunderstanding between Shahrukh and Vijay Shankar resulted within the latter’s run out. Tamil Nadu would have nonetheless been within the hunt if Shahrukh hadn’t been undone by a brief ball that he skied to Chauhan at deep midwicket.

What the lads in yellow lacked was the type of measured contribution that got here from Hemang’s willow. Despite shedding wickets at common intervals, Gujarat’s No. 7, who got here in at 64 for 5 within the ninth over, batted via to the top and added treasured runs with the tail.

The scores:

Group B: Gujarat 133/9 in 20 overs (Hemang Patel 50 n.o., Vishal Jayswal 32) beat Tamil Nadu 114 in 18.5 overs (M. Shahrukh Khan 33, Arzan Nagwaswalla 4/21, Chintan Gaja 3/21); Toss: Gujarat; Points: Gujarat 4 (12), Tamil Nadu 0 (8).

Tripura 109/9 in 20 overs (Mandeep Singh 50, Akash Singh 3/19) misplaced to Baroda 115/3 in 11.2 overs (Hardik Pandya 47, Mitesh Patel 37 n.o.); Toss: Baroda; Points: Tripura 0 (0), Baroda 4 (16).

Saurashtra 186/7 in 20 overs (Prerak Mankad 54, Harvik Desai 41, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja 32, Akash Madhwal 3/32) beat Uttarakhand 143/6 in 20 overs (Swapnil Singh 44 n.o.); Toss: Uttarakhand; Points: Saurashtra 4 (12), Uttarakhand 0 (4).

Sikkim 82 in 18.2 overs (Shreyas Gopal 5/13, Vidyadhar Patil 3/10) misplaced to Karnataka 86/2 in 5.4 overs (Okay.L. Shrijith 37, Manish Pandey 30 n.o.); Toss: Sikkim; Points: Sikkim 0 (0), Karnataka 4 (8).