Vijay Hazare Trophy: Tamil Nadu win to keep hopes alive for knockout stage

CHENNAI: After going down in the last couple of games, Tamil Nadu (TN) returned to winning ways as they beat Jharkhand by 67 runs in their Vijay Hazare clash in Indore on Friday.
TN scored 266-7 batting first and then restricted Jharkhand to 199-9 in their 50 overs. The victory keeps alive the mathematical possibility of TN making the knockouts.
TN will have to beat Vidarbha by a huge margin in their last league clash on Sunday and hope for other results to go their way.
B Aparajith (57) and N Jagadeesan (30) gave a steady start to the proceedings but a middle-order wobble pegged TN back. Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy’s (3-41) triple strike saw TN slip to 86 for 4 in 25th over.
M Shahrukh Khan’s (51) rescue act kept TN’s scoreboard moving in the middle overs. He added 45 runs for the fifth wicket with Aparajith. Shahrukh then combined with J Kousik (55) to stitch a 50-run stand that took TN closer to the 200-run mark.
Despite Shahrukh departing in the 42nd over, TN finished with a flourish thanks to cameos from R Sai Kishore (29*) and M Mohammed (20*). Kousik, Sai Kishore and Mohammed ensured TN scored 85 in the last 8 overs.
Jharkhand began the chase poorly, losing skipper Ishan Kishan off the very first ball, trapped leg-before by Aparajith (2-46).
TN bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals with left-arm spinner M Siddharth (3-33) being the pick of the lot. Virat Singh (49), Sumit Kumar (40) and Rahul Shukla (42*) were the only batsmen to apply themselves.
Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 266-7 in 50 overs (B Aparajith 57, J Kousik 55, Shahrukh Khan 51; Anukul Roy 3-41) beat Jharkhand 199-9 in 50 overs (Virat Singh 49, Rahul Shukla 42*.; Siddharth 3-33) by 67 runs.