CHENNAI: Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore's four for six helped Tamil Nadu thrash Tripura by eight wickets in a Group 'B' match of the
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
here on Friday. Dinesh Karthik's boys have virtually sealed their progress to the Super League as a result of their comprehensive win. They have 16 points from five matches and, more importantly, a healthy net run rate of 2.699. TN's last match of the group stage is against Vidarbha – who also have 16 points - on Sunday.
Operating with the new ball once again, Sai Kishore had an immediate impact as he removed Joydeep Banik and Pratyush Singh off the first two deliveries of the Tripura innings. Sai Kishore went on to take the wickets of Milind Kumar and Kaushal Acharjee as he finished with figures of 4-2-6-4. Left-arm seamer T Natarajan also contributed with three wickets, giving away only four runs in his four overs.
With five Tripura batsmen failing to open their account, the team had slumped to a nightmarish 9 for 7 and were in grave danger of being bundled out for the lowest T20 score ever. However, Saurabh Das and Neelambuj Vats salvaged the situation to a certain extent with a partnership of 70 runs for the eighth wicket that helped them finish with a score of 79 for 8 from their 20 overs.
TN overhauled the target with consummate ease, courtesy
Washington Sundar's attacking innings of 46 from just 32 balls. Opening the batting, the left-hander slammed four fours and two sixes before being stumped by wicketkeeper Banik off Abhijit Chakraborty. Fellow opener B Aparajith, meanwhile, played a steady knock of 33 from 36 balls as TN chased down the target in just 12.1 overs.
Brief scores: Tripura 79/8 in 20 overs (Saurabh Das 44, Neelambuj Vats 28 not out; R Sai Kishore 4/6). Tamil Nadu 80/2 in 12.1 overs (Washington Sundar 46,
Baba Aparajith
33 not out). TN won by 8 wickets.