Jagadeesan’s fifty guides Tamil Nadu to fourth consecutive victory

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu having it their way, alright. On Saturday, they won their fourth match in a row to top the Elite Group B in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, being held at Kolkata.

Playing against Hyderabad, Dinesh Karthik’s men posted a comfortable seven-wicket victory at the Jadavpur University campus.

Chasing a modest target of 153, Tamil Nadu, the group leaders with 16 points, rode on opener N Jagadeesan’s unbeaten 78 and Karthik’s 40 not out.

Opener C Hari Nishaanth was dismissed for a nine-ball 8 while KB Arun Karthick scored a run-a-ball 16. After a forgettable domestic season last time, Jagadeesan seems to have found his mojo again with a third straight halfcentury in the tournament.

The 25-year-old’s 51-ball innings consisted of four fours and five sixes. He also shared an unbroken 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket which took the team home. With 244 runs from four matches, Jagadeesan is also the second highest run-getter in the meet after Punjab’s Prabhsimran Singh (268).

Earlier, Hyderabad made 152 for seven after winning the toss. From 39 for no loss, Hyderabad lost four quick wickets for 15 runs. After B Sandeep’s 36-ball 41, the lower-order batsmen Tanay Thyagarajan (16 not out) and CV Milind (24 not out) upped the ante.

For TN, part-time off-spinner Baba Aparajith and leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin picked up two wickets apiece while pacers Sandeep Warrier and Aswin Crist shared three wickets between them. TN next face Bengal in a crucial encounter on Monday with top spot on the line. As per the new format, the top side from each group will automatically qualify for the knockout stages. They will be joined by two other teams having the most points across the groups.

Brief scores (select): Elite Group B: Hyderabad 152/7 in 20 ovs (B Sandeep 41, Pragnay 30, Aparajith 2/22, Warrier 2/24, Ashwin 2/40) lost to TN 155/3 in 19.3 ovs (Jagadeesan 78 n.o, Karthik 40 n.o). Elite Group A: Railways 152/5 in 20 ovs (Shivam 48, Partham 41; Prasidh 2/25, Gopal 2/27) lost to Karnataka 158/8 in 19.4 ovs (Aniruddha 64 n.o, Padikkal 37; Poojar 3/19, Shivendr 2/33).