J& K leave TN on brink of elimination
All- rounder Parvez Rasool scored an unbeaten 71 off 70 balls as Jammu and Kashmir stunned Tamil Nadu by four wickets in the Vijay Hazare trophy one- day tournament here at the M. A. Chidambaram on Sunday. With this defeat, TN are on the brink of elimination from the group stage, for the second season in a row.
Tamil Nadu are placed fourth in the table with 20 points with a game — against Haryana ( 24 points in eight games) on Tuesday — to go. TN have to win their last game and hope that Services ( 22 points in seven games) lose both their remaining matches, against Rajasthan and table- topper Jharkhand ( 28 points in eight games).
Sunday’s match was reduced to 41 overs- a- side after wet outfield delayed the start. From 101 for one, Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 168 in 39.4 overs. Abhinav Mukund ( 49) and M. Vijay put on 82 runs for the second wicket. Abhinav’s dismissal triggered TN’s spectacular collapse. Umar Nazir took four wickets.
TN skipper Vijay Shankar said it was critical for one of the set batsmen to stay throughout the innings.
“It’s not an easy to bat in Chepauk wicket in the morning. For a new batsman, it’s important to spend time in the middle before going after the bowling. I got out early today. Vijay and Abhinav got out in quick succession,” said Shankar.
Chasing 169, J& K marched on slowly. They needed 14 runs off the last two overs and captain Rasool held his nerve to take them past the finish line.