Spinners make the difference as Tamil Nadu thrash Baroda to clinch Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

After falling short by just one run in the final of last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Tamil Nadu made amends in fine style by thrashing Baroda on Sunday to clinch India’s domestic T20 tournament. Tamil Nadu won the final by seven wickets at the Sardar Patel Stadium to win the tournament for the second time and first since the inaugural season in 2006/07.

The Dinesh Karthik-led side came up with a fine all round performance as they thoroughly outplayed the Kedar Devdhar-led side. After setting a modest target of 121, the champions crossed the finishing line comfortably in 18 overs. Earlier in the game, Tamil Nadu’s in-form spinners once again made the difference as they never allowed the Baroda batsmen to break the shackles. Baroda, who were playing their first final since 2015/16, eventually huffed and puffed to 120 for 9.

At one stage, it looked like they would not even manage to touch the 100-run mark after being reduced to 36 for 6 inside 9 overs as Tamil Nadu spinners wreaked havoc. While in-form Sai Kishore came up with another stunning display, it was left-arm spinner Manimaran Siddharth who ran through the Baroda lineup. Playing his first game of the season, Siddharth returned figures of 4 for 20. Sai Kishore, on the other hand, returned figures of 4-1-11-0.

Baroda batsmen finally heaved a sigh of relief when Karthik introduced pacers after 13 overs of spin. Vishnu Solanki and Atit Sheth put on 58 runs for the seventh wicket to give the scoreboard some much-needed respectability. Solanki finished as Baroda’s top-scorer, scoring 49 off 55 balls and was run-out on the penultimate ball of the innings.

Tamil Nadu’s comfortable chase:

The 121-run target was never going to be enough to challenge Tamil Nadu and the high-flying team proved it by chasing down the total with utmost ease. Openers Hari Nishant and N Jagadeesan put on 26 runs in 3.4 overs to set the tone and Tamil Nadu did not look back after that. Due to the presence of dew, the Baroda bowlers found it tough to grip the ball and opposition batsmen fully capitalised on it.

Baba Aparajith played the role of the anchor by holding one end and scoring an unbeaten 29 while the others went for the big shot. Karthik played a fine cameo of 22 off 16 balls before Shahrukh Khan finished things off in style with a knock of 18* off 7 balls.

Brief Scores:

Baroda 120/9 in 20 overs (Vishnu Solanki 49; Manimaran Siddharth 4-20)

Tamil Nadu 123/3 in 18 overs (Hari Nishant 35; Atit Sheth 1-20)

Result: Tamil Nadu won by seven wickets.