TN beat Baroda to win Mushtaq Ali Trophy

AHMEDABAD: Tamil Nadu produced an impressive batting display after left-arm spinner M Siddharth’s four-wicket haul to beat Baroda by seven wickets in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy on Sunday.

Siddharth (4/20) spun his web around the Baroda batsmen to restrict them to a meagre 120 for nine before Tamil Nadu overhauled the target in 18 overs, with opener C Hari Nishaanth top-scoring with 35.

Chasing 121 for a win, Tamil Nadu had useful contributions from Nishaanth , Baba Aparajith (29*), skipper Dinesh Karthik (22) before Shahrukh Khan applied the finishing touches with his seven-ball 18 knock.

Earlier, Siddharth’s brilliant bowling enabled TN to restrict Baroda on a difficult track. It was largely due to the 58-run seventh wicket stand between Vishnu Solanki (49 off 55 balls; 1x4; 2x6) and Atit Sheth (29 off 30 balls; 2x4;1x6) that Baroda after being reduced to 36 for six managed a three-figure total.

Brief Scores: Baroda 120/9 in 20 overs (Vishnu Solanki 49, Atit Sheth 29; M Siddharth 4/20; M Mohammed 1/16) lost to

123/3 in 18 overs (C Hari Nishaanth 35, Baba Aparajith

29*; Atit Sheth 1/20, Babashafi Pathan 1/23) by 7 wickets also before deciding that the first two matches would be held behind closed doors. But the fresh guidelines on easing of restrictions on public movement have changed the scenario.

“There is no time to allow entry of spectators for the first Test starting on February 5. You can’t organise entry of spectators at such a short notice,” a senior TNCA official told PTI.

“But yes, now with fresh guidelines, there is every possibility that second Test starting from February 14 might have spectators as per notification,” he added.