Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Vishnu Vinod's heroics in vain as TN edge Kerala

Vishnu Vinod
Vishnu Vinod scored his fifty off just 22 balls. Photo: Twitter/BCCI

New Delhi: Holders Tamil Nadu beat Kerala by five wickets to enter the semifinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy National T20 Championships here on Thursday.

 

Tamil Nadu overhauled the target of 182 with three balls to spare.

 

Opener C Hari Nishant scored off 32 off 22 balls, while B Sai Sudarshan made 46 off 31 balls. 

 

Captain Vijay Shankar chipped in with a 26-ball 33.

 

With 33 needed off the last three overs, Shahrukh Khan hit two sixes off Visweshar Suresh as the medium-pacer leaked 19 runs. Shahrukh remained unbeaten on 19 off nine balls, while Sanjay Yadav scored 32 off 22 balls.

 

Left-arm pacer Manukrishnan (3/26) was the pick of the Kerala bowlers.

 

Earlier, Vishnu Vinod's dazzling knock lifted Kerala to 181/4.

 

Vishnu smashed seven sixes and two fours in his breezy unbeaten 65 off just 26 balls. He brought up his fifty off 22 balls.

 

Kerala openers Rohan Kunnummal and Mohammed Azharuddeen added 45 for the first wicket after Tamil Nadu opted to bowl. Azharuddeen was caught by Sandeep Warrier off Murugan Ashwin's bowling for 15.

 

Rohan (51) and one-drop Sachin Baby put on 46 for the second wicket before left-arm spinner Sanjay struck twice in the space of three balls. Rohan was stumped, while the in-form skipper Sanju Samson was caught by Ashwin for a duck as Kerala slipped to 91/3.

 

Rohan hit five fours in his 43-ball knock.

 

Sachin (33) and Vishnu Vinod added 58 of just 34 balls to put Kerala back on track. 

 

Sanjay claimed 2/23 off his four overs.

 

Brief scores: Kerala 181/4 in 20 overs (Vishnu Vinod 65 not out, Rohan Kunnummal 51, Sachin Baby 33; Sanjay Yadav 2/23) lost to Tamil Nadu 187/5 in 19.3 overs (B Sai Sudarshan 46, Vijay Shankar 33, Sanjay Yadav 32; Manukrishnan 3/26).

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