Aces chase with unbeaten 89 after Sai Kishore, Mohammed restrict Rajasthan
K.B. Arun Karthik slammed a brilliant, unbeaten 89 (54b, 9×4, 3×6) to guide Tamil Nadu to its second straight final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday.
The 34-year-old — who returned to Tamil Nadu this season after six years away as a professional — made his presence felt in chasing down a competitive target of 155.
After losing C. Hari Nishanth and B. Aparajith cheaply, Arun Karthik and N. Jagadeesan steadied the ship with a 52-run stand for the third wicket.
Arun Karthik started by pulling left-arm pacer Tanveer Ul-Haq over mid-wicket before working the field against the Rajasthan spinners with sweeps, reverse sweeps, and skilful use of the feet to clear the straight boundaries.
After Jagadeesan was dismissed for a run-a-ball 28, Arun Karthik and skipper Dinesh Karthik brought their experience to the fore, smartly picking up runs without taking too many risks.
The TN batsmen went after Rajasthan spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Chandrapal Singh. In the 14th over, Dinesh Karthik found three boundaries off Bishnoi, after which TN cantered home with ease.
Menaria shines
Earlier, choosing to take strike on a good batting wicket, Rajasthan put TN under the pump, with skipper Ashok Menaria smacking a 32-ball 51 (5×4, 2×6).
He was ably supported by opener Aditya Garhwal (29, 21b, 5×4, 1×6) and then Arjit Gupta (45, 35b, 2×4, 3×6), with whom Menaria shared an 83-run stand for the third wicket.
Medium-pacer Aswin Crist, in particular, came under fire from Menaria, who hit him for 18 runs, with three fours and a six, in the sixth over.
Rajasthan was cruising at 120 for two after 13 overs before TN fought back strongly, thanks to Sai Kishore’s brilliant spell (two for 16), with support from Sonu Yadav (one for 27) and M. Mohammed (four for 24).
In the ambitious quest to set a large target, Rajasthan’s batsmen lost the plot, with just 34 coming off the last seven overs for the loss of seven wickets. This ensured that TN went into the break with momentum on its side. Arun Karthik then proceeded to bat Rajasthan out of the contest.
The scores: Rajasthan 154/9 in 20 overs (Ashok Menaria 51, Arjit Gupta 45, M. Mohammed 4/24) lost to Tamil Nadu 158/3 in 18.4 overs (K.B. Arun Karthik 89 n.o.).
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