Chennai: The stage was set. The bowlers had done the job in the morning, and the top four had then knocked off more than half of the runs needed. Facing a target of 203 in 64 overs, Tamil Nadu were cruising at 155-3 after 35 overs, when things went horribly wrong.
The home side lost five wickets for 11 runs in a span of eight overs. Joined by debutant Ajith Ram, senior pro Washington Sundar tried to resuscitate the gasping side, but stumbled at the doorstep of victory, as Andhra prevailed by eight runs in a see-saw battle in Coimbatore. The day began well for TN as R Sai Kishore cleaned up danger man Ricky Bhui (76) after he had only added 14 runs to his overnight score. Shoaib Mohammed Khan, who would later go on to wreak havoc in the TN chase and be adjudged man of the match, scored 28 vital runs for the visitors before Washington had him caught.
Sai Kishore dismissed lower-order batters Nithish Kumar Reddy, Lalith Mohan and Ayyapa Bandaru to pick up a five-wicket haul as Andhra’s innings ended at 250. In reply, TaWashington mil Nadu lost wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan for 14 but continued playing aggressively, whittling down the target to manageable proportions.
Off-spinner Shoaib picked up the crucial wickets of Sai Sudharsan (37) and Baba Aparajith (19) to peg the home side back at 75-3. This is when captain Baba Indrajith and Washington combined for an 80-run partnership to provide solidity and assurance to the chase. Or so it seemed. Indrajith (43) was adjudged LBW off Shoaib’s bowling in a contentious umpiring decision on the stroke of tea, which triggered a middle-order collapse. Vijay Shankar, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sai Kishore and L Vignesh all perished with single-digit scores to leave TN tottering at 166-8, with 37 runs still needed.
Washington and Ajith then got together and compiled 28 runs in 13 overs to revive the home side’s hopes. But another controversial caught-behind decision sent Ajith back, and Washington eventually succumbed in the pursuit of the remaining eight runs. Shoaib ended up with six wickets for the visitors, and medium pacer KV Sasikanth picked up the other four.
Despite the loss, TN coach M Venkataramana said he was proud of how the team played overall. “Ajith and Washington applied themselves brilliantly. The debutant showed superb composure and Washington shielded him well too. They almost got us over the finish line, but unfortunately it was not to be. Nevertheless, we will brush off the disappointment and come back strong,” he told TOI.
Brief scores: Andhra 297 and (o/n 162-5) 250 all out in 76.4 overs (Ricky Bhui 76, Shoaib Md Khan 28, KV Sasikanth 19*; Sai Kishore 5-88, Washington Sundar 2-52). TN 345 and 194 all out in 56.2 overs (Washington Sundar 65, Baba Indrajith 43, Sai Sudharsan 37; Shoaib Md Khan 6-69, KV Sasikanth 4-47). Andhra won by 8 runs. Points: Andhra 6, TN 0).
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