Published: Feb 27, 2019, 04:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 27, 2019, 04:10 PM (IST)
Himachal Pradesh beat Tamil Nadu by seven wickets for their third win of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 in Surat on Wednesday.
After restricting Tamil Nadu to 138/9, Himachal recovered from two early jolts to reach the target in 19 overs with Prashant Chopra hitting an unbeaten 68.
Abhishek Tanwar struck in consecutive overs to land early blows accounting for Himachal captain Ankush Bains (7) and Sumeet Verma (3) inside the Powerplay overs.
Prashant and Ekant Sen did the early repair work, putting the chase back on track with a 66-run stand. The partnership broke in the 14th over with the dismissal of Sen for 35.
Prashant continued as he went on to complete his half-century to remain unbeaten on 68 off 53 with four fours and two sixes. Allrounder Rishi Dhawan scored an unbeaten 22 off 11 to ensure the a rather comfortable win as Himachal finished on 139/3 with an over to spare.
That Tamil Nadu bowlers were able to have something to defend for was thanks to a single-handed effort from veteran opener Murali Vijay who scored 77 off 58 before being run out in the final over helping his team to a respectable total.
Tamil Nadu lost two wickets within the first two overs after opting to bat. Hari Nishanth was run out without facing a ball while Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore departed for a first-ball duck, falling to Ankit Maini. Vijay and Baba Indrajith led the recovery, taking them to 54/2 before a second run-out resulted in the latter walking back on 12.
Vijay continued his battle even as he kept losing partners at the other end cheaply. NS Chaturved (19*) and Ravichandran Ashwin (14) offered some support as the score went past the 100-run mark. They lost three more wickets in the final over including that of Vijay to another run-out finishing with a below part total.
Brief Scores: Himachal Pradesh 139/3 (Prashant Chopra 68*, Ekant Sen 35) beat Tamil Nadu 138/9 (Murali Vijay 77, Ankit Maini 3/29) by seven wickets
