Vijay Hazare Trophy: Tamil Nadu edge past Rajasthan by one wicket

CHENNAI: After R Sai Kishore's 5 for 39 helped Tamil Nadu bundle out Rajasthan for 133, B Anirudh's 40 and a gritty 21-run stand for the final wicket between M Mohammed (22 n.o., 2x4) and T Natarajan (7 n.o., 1x4) helped the hosts notch up a one-wicket victory in their Vijay Hazare Trophy clash at Murugappa ground on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 134, TN were up against it after slipping to 34-4 by the eleventh over.While openers Abhinav Mukund and N Jagadeesan fell to left-arm seamer Tanvir Ul-Haq for 0 and 3 respectively, TN dug a deeper hole for themselves with M Kaushik Gandhi (18) and skipper B Indrajith (0) getting run out.
At 49/5 after B Aparajith (17) also departed cheaply, it was left to Anirudh to steady the ship with a 40-run stand for the sixth wicket with M Shahrukh Khan (20, 3x4).
However, Rajasthan stayed in the hunt by dismissing Shahrukh, caught by Chetan Bist off Abhimanyu Lamba (1-28) in the 22nd over. In the very next over, leggie Rahul Chahar (3 for 25) got rid of C Varun (0) to reduce TN to 90/7. R Sai Kishore (0) didn't trouble the scorers either and the big scalp of Anirudh a few overs later meant the home side still needed 21 for victory with the final pair of Mohammed and Natarajan at the crease.
With more than 20 overs left when the duo came together, it was a matter of Mohammed and Natarajan not buckling under pressure. They duly stepped up to the plate and ensured TN crossed the finish line with 91 balls to spare.
The first half of the match belonged to left-arm spinner Sai Kishore, who bagged his second five-wicket haul in List 'A' cricket. On a pitch that was providing assistance to the spinners, Sai Kishore struck in his very first over and maintained the pressure on the Rajasthan batsmen right throughout to finish up with figures of 10-2-39-5.
"The wicket was taking turn and batsmen found it tough to drive on this wicket. My plan was to bowl wicket-to-wicket and this performance gives me confidence going ahead," the 21-year-old told TOI.
CV Varun, who took his maiden five-wicket haul in the previous match, also chipped in with three wickets. For Rajasthan, Tajinder Singh (55, 6x4, 3x6) was the only significant contributor with the bat and helped them reach a total that proved to be just a few runs short of a winning one at the end.
Scoreboard:
Rajasthan: A Gautam lbw b Mohammed 0, A Lamba c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 6, R Bist b Varun 6, A Menaria lbw b Sai Kishore 13, C Bist lbw b Varun 1, M Lomror c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 13, Tajinder Singh c Jagadeesan b Varun 55, C Chundawat c Gandhi b Sai Kishore 2, AR Lamba c Natarajan b Sai Kishore 12, RD Chahar b Natarajan 2, TM Ul-Haq n.o. 0; Extras (b4, nb2, w8) 14; Total (all out in 37.1 Overs) 133; FoW: 1-0, 2-23, 3-23, 4-24, 5-43, 6-62, 7-66, 8-124, 9-133 , 10-133; Bowling: Mohammed 7-1-23-1, Natarajan 8.1-3-17-1, Varun 10-2-28-3, Sai Kishore 10-2-39-5, Aparajith 2-0-18-0
Tamil Nadu: N Jagadeesan c Bist b Ul-Haq 3, A Mukund c R Bist b Ul-Haq 0, K Gandhi run out 18, B Indrajith run out 0, B Aparajith c CD Bist b Chahar 17, B Anirudh c&b Tajinder 40, M Shahrukh Khan c CD Bist b Lamba 20, C Varun lbw b Chahar 0, R Sai Kishore b Chahar 0, M Mohammed n.o. 22, T Natarajan n.o. 7; Extras (nb2, w5) 7; Total (For 9 wickets in 34.5 overs): 134; FoW: 1-1, 2-8, 3-8, 4-34, 5-49, 6-89, 7-90, 8-93, 9-113; Bowling: Ul-Haq 9-3-26-2, Lamba 6-1-28-1, R Chahar 10-1-35-3, Tajinder 5-0-24-1, Chundawat 4.5-0-21-0