TN keeps cool to script a 26-run win

                                                   

Akhil Herwardkar’s brilliant century goes in vain for Mumbai

Akhil Herwardkar cracked a brilliant century (107, 86b, 16x4, 1x6) in vain as Tamil Nadu showed great fighting qualities under pressure in the final overs to script a 26-run win over Mumbai to notch up its second consecutive victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament Group A match at the Gymkhana ground here on Friday.

Chasing a challenging 313 for win, Mumbai seemed to be on course, thanks to the superbly-paced ton by southpaw Herwardkar. He was in a hurry, treating both pace and spin with disdain.

The way he handled India star R. Ashwin, stepping out with ease to hit three consecutive fours in one over, was a treat to watch. With Herwardkar’s opening partner Jay Bista rotating the strike quite efficiently, Mumbai looked quite comfortable.

Breakthrough

Then, in the 20th over with the score reading 127, Bista reverse swept Ashwin straight to the square-leg fielder to give Tamil Nadu the much-needed breakthrough.

With Ashwin marshalling his resources admirably, the team showed great character to fight its way back into the game.

It was lucky that Dinesh Karthik’s inability to stump Herwardkar, who was way down the pitch, did not prove costly as R. Sathish soon came up with a brilliant effort in the deep off M. Ashwin with the score on 142.

Herwardkar’s dismissal proved to be the turning point in the Mumbai chase.

Though S. Lad showed his capabilities with the bat, a suicidal run-out by Iqbal Abdulla and the way the other batsmen threw away their wickets, nullified the brilliant start given by Herwardkar as Tamil Nadu finished a deserving winner with M. Ashwin taking three wickets.

Earlier, put in, Tamil Nadu began dismally losing Abhinav Mukund (1) and Dinesh Karthik (18) cheaply. It then thrived on the knocks of twins B. Aparajith (77, 112b) and B. Indrajith (60 not out, 52b, 5x4). M. Vijay (55, 59b, 2x4, 3x6) and R. Sathish (52, 30b, 5x4, 3x6), too, contributed with handy half-centuries.

However, the one innings that propelled the team score was the brilliance of Sathish, who hit medium-pacer Sagar Trivedi for 6, 4, 6, 4 in an over.

For Mumbai, Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul.

In another match, a fine all-round show by Rajat Bhatia, who claimed five for 17 and then hit an unbeaten 68, helped Rajasthan record a thrilling, one-wicket win over Assam.

Hyderabad suffered its second straight defeat as it lost to Punjab by 56 runs.

Saturday is a rest day.

The scores:

Tamil Nadu 312 for seven in 50 overs (B. Aparajith 77, M. Vijay 55, B. Indrajith 60 not out, R. Sathish 52, Dhawal Kulkarni three for 47) bt Mumbai 286 in 45.2 overs (Akhil Herwardkar 107, Shreyas Iyer 44, S.D. Lad 47, M. Ashwin three for 38).

Punjab 238 in 49.4 overs (Manan Vohra 33, Yuvraj Singh 36, Gurkeerat Singh 35, Mayank Siddana 64, Gitansh Khera 30, Ravi Kiran four for 33, C.V. Milind three for 62) bt Hyderabad 182 for nine in 42.4 overs (K. Sumanth 62 retd. hurt, P. Kaneshkk Naidu 35, Siddarth Kaul five for 32, Brainder Sran three for 36).

Assam 148 in 44.4 overs (Pallav Kumar Das 37, Rajat Bhatia five for 17) lost to Rajasthan 149 for nine in 49.3 overs (Rajat Bhatia 68 not out).