Twitter Reactions: Tamil Nadu thump Hyderabad to romp into the final

Tamil Nadu are only one step away from defending their title.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

View : 1.8K

3 Min Read

Tamil Nadu cricket team
info
Tamil Nadu cricket team. (Photo Source: Disney + Hotstar)

The Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy is nearing its climax with the final set to take place on November 22 (Monday) in Delhi. Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad faced off in the first semi-final on Saturday (November 20). The Vijay Shankar-led side made it to the semis with four group stage wins (one loss) and by beating Kerala in the quarter-finals. Hyderabad remained unbeaten in the group stage and then defeated Gujarat in the quarters to make it to the last four.

But they had a bigger challenge on their hands of going past the defending champions Tamil Nadu. Well, on expected lines though Tamil Nadu literally romped past Hyderabad to storm into their third successive final and are only one step away from defending their title.

They won the toss and opted to bowl first on an early morning start and the bowlers did an extremely good job. Medium pacer Saravana Kumar swung the ball superbly to run through Hyderabad’s batting line-up. He sent back their top four batters – skipper Tanmay Agarwal, Pragnay Reddy, Tilak Varma and Himalay Agarwal – with only 26 runs on the board in the 6th over.

Sandeep Warrier kept it tight from the other end during this period. Rest of the bowlers – M Mohammed, R Sai Kishore and M Ashwin – also chipped in with wickets to keep Hyderabad batters on the tenterhooks all the time. Only Tanay Thyagarajan reached double figures scoring 25 off 24 balls.

Hyderabad were bundled out for just 90 runs in the 19th over of the innings with Saravana completing a sensational five-wicket haul conceding only 21 runs and also bowled two maidens in his spell.

Tamil Nadu chase down 91 comfortably

Hyderabad bowlers were being asked too much to defend 90 runs in a semi-final. They needed early wickets and Rakshann Readdi provided twin breakthroughs in the third over to bring some excitement into the game. Hari Nishanth and N Jagadeesan got out on successive deliveries and at 16/2, things looked tricky for Tamil Nadu.

But a calm head of captain Vijay Shankar and Sai Sudharshan got together to rebuild the innings and forge a partnership. With no pressure on required run-rate they didn’t have to play rash shots and even a few dot balls didn’t make much of a difference. Once the duo got set, they played their shots eventually taking the team into their third successive SMAT final.

Tamil Nadu won the game in the 15th over itself with Sudharshan remaining unbeaten on 34 while Shankar made 43* off 40 balls.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024