The winners of the inaugural season and last year's runners-up Tamil Nadu have reached another final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Dinesh Karthik's men coasted to the victory line rather comfotably in the end to beat Rajasthan by 7 wickets to reach their third final of the Domestic T20 competition.
Arun Karthik starred with the bat as Tamil Nadu registered a 7-wicket win over Rajasthan to secure a place in the #SyedMushtaqAliT20 #Final. #TNvRAJ #SF1
Watch the highlights of the match https://t.co/s1YxMjUfTC pic.twitter.com/rttswgysHx
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 29, 2021
Rajasthan won the toss and chose to bat in the first semi-final. Tamil Nadu got off to a brilliant start getting the first wicket in just the first over of the game. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore sent back Bharat Sharma. Rajasthan lost another wicket in the powerplay but skipper Ashok Menaria and Arijit Gupta stabilised the Rajasthan's innings.
The duo went from rebuilding the innings to putting it in cruise control. The pair stitched a partnership of 83 runs in just eight overs and Rajasthan looked on course for a 180-plus total but then came the turning point of the game. Sai Kishore came back to sent the set Menaria back, who amassed a 32-ball 51 before getting out.
The opening gave Tamil Nadu a golden chances to come back in the game and they didn't leave it. Pacer M Mohammed sent back Rajasthan's QF hero Mahipal Lomror in the very next over and their innings started to stumble. Rajasthan lost 6 wickets for 25 in their last 33 balls to finish on 155/9.
Tamil Nadu too, didn't get off to a great start losing opener Hari Nishanth and Baba Aparajith inside four overs. N Jagadeesan and Arun Karthik then took the onus to take Tamil Nadu's innings forward. Jagadeesan couldn't continue for long and got out for a run-a-ball 28, after which Arun was joined by the other Karthik, skipper Dinesh.
The two Karthiks first sailed TN's innings towards safe shores and then dominated to breeze past the target of 156 and comfortably winning the semi-final to reach their third final of the tournament history.
The duo stitched an unbeaten 89-run partnership and Arun played an innings of 89* off just 54 balls to help TN stamp their authority after suffering early blows.
Tamil Nadu march into the final!
The @DineshKarthik-led unit beat Rajasthan by 7⃣ wickets to seal a place in the summit clash. #TNvRAJ #SyedMushtaqAliT20 #SF1 | @TNCACricket
Scorecard https://t.co/Y5DkQ6696D pic.twitter.com/XSDihUgY3E
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 29, 2021
Tamil Nadu will wait for the winner of the Punjab and Baroda to meet them in the final on Sunday.