Tamil Nadu crowned Syed Mushtaq champions; beat Baroda by 7 wickets

Tamil Nu produced an impressive batting display after left-arm spinner M Siddarth’s four-wicket haul as y lifted coveted Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy after defeating Baroda by seven wickets in final here on Sunday.

This was Tamil Nu’s second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy triumph, after winning ir first title way back in 2006-07. Baroda, who h won title twice in past (in 2011-12 and 2013-14), ended runners-up this time.

Match Summary

Siddharth (4/20) spun his web around Baroda batsmen to restrict m to a meagre 120 for 9 and n Tamil Nu overhauled target in 18 overs, with opener C Hari Nishaanth top-scoring with 35.

Chasing 121 for a win, Tamil Nu lost opener Narayan Jageesan (14) early as pacer Lukman Meriwala (1/34) picked up first wicket, with opposition at 26/1.

But Nishaanth (35; 3x4; 1x6) continued playing his shots and was joined by Baba Aparajith (29 t out off 35 balls) as Tamil Nu reached 61/1 after 10 overs.

However, medium-pacer Babashafi Pathan removed Nishaanth in 12th over, as he holed out in deep, to reduce TN to 67/2 and give Baroda a glimmer of hope.

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Skipper Dinesh Karthik played his part to perfection with a 16-ball 22 but perished when his side needed 20 runs off 23 balls.

Aparajith and Shahrukh Khan (18 t out off 7 balls; 2x4; 1x6) n took TN home. Shahrukh, fittingly, finished game with a boundary. Earlier, Siddharth’s brilliant bowling upfront enabled TN to restrict Baroda to 120 for 9 on a difficult track.

It was largely due to 58-run seventh-wicket stand between Vishnu Solanki (49 off 55 balls; 1x4; 2x6) and Atit Sheth (29 off 30 balls; 2x4;1x6) that Baroda after being reduced to 36/6 mand a three-figure total.

Siddharth used pitch to his vant by varying pace of his deliveries and also using crease well to create awkward angles for batsmen.

Put into bat on a Sardar Patel Stium track that offered both turn and bounce, Baroda lost left-handed opener Nin Rathva (1) early as move to start with spinners from both ends paid off for Tamil Nu.

Rathva was caught by KB Arun Karthik off offie Baba Aparajith (1/16). Aparajith and left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (0/11) kept things tight as Baroda was 11/1 after three overs.

Skipper Kedar Devdhar (16), who h hammered three boundaries, could t convert his starts and gave a sitter to Narayan Jageesan at cover as wiry Siddharth picked up his first wicket. 

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 Brief Scores: Baroda 120/9 (Vishnu Solanki 49, Atit Sheth 29; M Siddharth 4/20; M Mohammed 1/16) lost to Tamil Nu 123/3 (C Hari Nishaanth 35, Baba Aparajith 29 t out; Atit Sheth 1/20, Babashafi Pathan 1/23) by 7 wickets.