Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Aparajith fifty helps TN get off the mark

CHENNAI:  Having lost their opening game, defending champions Tamil Nadu came back stronger with a comfortable win aga­inst Odisha in the Group E fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Wednesday. Chasing 142, skipper Baba Aparajith led from the front with an unbeaten 63 to help the TN side secure their first points of this season. Earlier, with the ball, T Natarajan was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets for 32 runs.

It was a day of captain’s show in Group B as well with Nitesh Rana smashing a 61-ball 107 to help Delhi post a commandable  191/4 against Punjab at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. In reply, thanks to Anmolpreet Singh’s fifty, Punjab came close before falling short by 12 runs. In the other game at the venue, youngster Tilak Varma and Mickil Jaiswal put on a show for Hyderabad in the middle-order against Pondicherry. While Tilak anchored the innings with a 41-ball 57, Mickil’s late flourish (44 n.o from 25 balls) meant Hyderabad finished with 147/8. Pondicherry started well with the bat, but lost track of the chase in the middle-overs. At one point, they were 114/4, needing 35 runs from 14 balls. K B Arun Karthick smashed a 9-ball 17, but it wasn’t enough in the end as they finished with 143/4.

Meanwhile in Group C, Kerala registered their second win in as many games with a 53-run win against Karnataka in Mohali. If Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Azahruddeen’s unbeaten 47-ball 95 took Kerala to 179/4, debutant Vysakh Chandran ran through the Karnataka top-order (4/11) to restrict their neighbouring state to 126/9. 

In Group D, the game between Andhra and Himachal Pradesh was abandoned.

Select results:  At Jaipur, Group B Delhi 191/4 in 20 ovs (Rana 107; Abhishek 2/16) bt Punjab 179/5 in 20 ovs (Anmolpreet 64; Ishant 2/35); Hyderabad 147/8 in 20 ovs (Tilak 57; Bhushan 4/18) bt Pondicherry 143/4 in 20 ovs (Ragu 35); At Lucknow, Group E Odisha 141/3 in 20 ovs (Senapati 65; Natarajan 2/32) lost to Tamil Nadu 143/5 in 18.5 ovs (Aparajith 63 n.o; Sameer 2/7); At Mohali, Group C Kerala 179/4 in 20 ovs (Azharuddeen 95 n.o; Suchith 2/25) bt Karnataka 126/9 in 20 ovs (Manohar 46; Midhun 2/15).