Tamil Nadu has been one of the teams which has been very consistent in the Indian domestic circuit. They have challenged for the trophies across all formats of the game. Today is a memorable day for Tamil Nadu cricket as the team clinched the title in the second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on this day in 2021.
The Southern Showdown
Tamil Nadu qualified for the final after an amazing campaign throughout the tournament but the toughest test for them came in the summit clash of the tournament. Tamil Nadu took on one of the domestic giants, Karnataka, another formidable contender, in the final which went down to the wire.
Vijay Shankar won the toss for Tamil Nadu and opted to invite Karnataka to bat first. The Tamil Nadu bowlers were right on top of their game from the start as they picked up 3 wickets in the powerplay to give initial setbacks to Karnataka. Crucial contributions from Abhinav Manohar and Praveen Dubey helped Karnataka to recover from the crisis but it was not enough for them to post a huge target. They ended up with 151 runs which was a reasonable target for Tamil Nadu.
Resilient Karnataka bow out
The run chase appeared to be a comparatively easy task for Tamil Nadu but Karnataka’s bowlers troubled Vijay Shankar’s men. Tamil Nadu got a good start but the run rate was a cause of concern for them. By the 15th over when Tamil Nadu felt the need to accelerate, the wickets started falling.
Karnataka came back strongly in the match with a few wickets in quick succession but Shahrukh Khan did not surrender without fighting. The hard-hitting middle-order batter showed some fireworks to take his team across the final hurdle. He scored 33 runs off just 15 deliveries ensuring that his team emerged victorious in the end. Tamil Nadu won the match on the very last ball and lifted their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy thrillingly.