Tamil Nadu suffers second consecutive loss

Tamil Nadu suffered a second successive defeat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as it went down to Madhya Pradesh by 14 runs in an Elite Group B fixture at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday.

After bowling Madhya Pradesh out for 225 in 48.2 overs, Tamil Nadu could manage only 211 all-out in 49 overs despite Shahrukh Khan’s (67 not out off 77 balls) heroics. It is to be remembered that the Dinesh Karthikled side lost its previous match against Andhra on Monday. Tamil Nadu is now placed fifth in its group with four points from three games.

Having won the toss on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu invited Madhya Pradesh to bat. Pacers M Mohammed (3 for 39) and R Silambarasan (2 for 36) exploited the seamer-friendly conditions to restrict Madhya Pradesh to 225. Aditya Shrivastava and captain Parth Sahani were the top scorers for Madhya Pradesh, both making 46 runs each.

Chasing 226 for its second victory in the competition, Tamil Nadu lost left-handed opener C Hari Nishaanth in just the sixth over. Narayan Jagadeesan (27 off 47 balls), No.3 batter Baba Indrajith (32 off 45 balls) and skipper Karthik (37 off 50 balls) chipped in but never got going for the southern team, which at one stage was reeling at 107 for six.

But, Shahrukh brought life back into the game with an unbeaten half-century that included three fours and five maximums. However, he ran out of partners as Tamil Nadu ended its innings at 211.

Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 225 all-out in 48.2 overs (A Shrivastava 46, P Sahani 46, M Mohammed 3/39) beat Tamil Nadu 211 all-out in 49 overs (Shahrukh 67*)