With a thumping 73-run win against India 'A' in a must win game, Tamil Nadu booked themselves a spot in the Prof DB Deodhar Trophy 2016-17, final. The Vijay Shankar-led Vijay Hazare Trophy champions will face-off against India 'B' for the title in Vizag. With a 159-run partnership, Dinesh Karthik (93) and N Jagadeesan helped set the Harbhajan Singh-led team a 304-run target. The TN spinners then defended the total at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.Rahil Shah and Sai Kishore claimed three wickets apiece while M Ashwin and MS Washington Sundar picked a wicket each.
After Tamil Nadu opted to bat, Shardul Thakur accounted for Ganga Sridhar Raju to end the opening stand and claimed Kaushik Gandhi a ball later to leave the team on 51 for two.
TN's in form batsman, Dinesh then joined Jagadeesan in forging a solid partnership. The pair steadily milked the India 'A' attack to take the side past the 200-run mark until KrunalPandya struck. The left-arm spinner had Jagadeesan stumped for 71 to leave TN on 210 for three. 23 runs later, the wicketkeeper-batsman was dismissed by Thakur in the 41st over. Baba Indrajith, who then took guard saw the team past the 300-run mark with the lower middle-order. He was unbeaten on 36 off 28 as he took the team to 303 for six with a M Ashwin (12 off 13).
Chasing the stiff target, Mandeep Singh strove to anchor the chase for India 'A'. The opener made 97 off 114 as he stoically held up one end while the TN bowlers struck at regular intervals. MayankAgarwal was the first to be sent back for 12 by M Mohammed.
The Tamil Nadu spinners then wrecked the rest of the line-up to and bowled the team to victory with 32 balls to spare.
Sai Kishore then caught AmabatiRayudu off his own bowling to end the second wicket partnership for 35. With Pandya for company, Mandeep formed a stand to keep the side in the chase. However the blossoming partnership was ended by M Ashwin for 72. A bit later while ManojTiwary was run out by Vijay Shankar leaving India 'A' on 167 for four, Sundar then bowled Pant for six. Deepak Hooda, who then came to the crease but took on the bowlers during his 23-ball 26, until he was sent back by Sai Kishore. And without a run added to the scorecard, Shah dealt a double blow in the following over to leave the side on 214 for eight. He accounted for Harbhajan Singh and Thakur in the 42nd over to tip the game in TN's favour. In his next over the left-arm spinner bowled ShahbazNadeem to put the side firmly in driver's seat. In the next over, Mandeep's resistance was ended by Sai Kishore three runs short of a century to seal a place in the final for TN.
