Sai Kishore keeps Tamil Nadu’s hopes alive

Chennai: Steered by R Sai Kishore’s miserly spell, the Tamil Nadu tweakers prevailed on a sluggish, turning track in Lucknow to beat Jharkhand by 12 runs in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group E match on Tuesday. The left-arm spinner picked up three wickets and conceded just six runs in his quota of four overs, turning the tide in the defending champs’ favour and keeping their hopes alive in the campaign.TN have 12 points from five games and are third in the table. With two teams making the cut for the knock-outs, TN will have to beat Chandigarh in their last match and hope other results go in their favour.
On Tuesday, the spin quartet of Washington Sundar, Varun C, M Ashwin and Sai Kishore ended up with collective figures of 15-0-86-7, stifling the scoring and snaring wickets at regular intervals to hurt Jharkhand’s cause.
Things were not so rosy at the innings break for TN, as the side was dismissed for 138 after winning the toss and opting to bat first. Medium pacer Vikash Singh took three early wickets — including TN captain Baba Aparajith — and spinner Shahbaz Nadeem wreaked havoc in the back end, returning figures of 4-0-12-4. B Sai Sudarshan top-scored for TN with 47* off 38 balls.
It was a crucial innings in the context of the game and given the fact that scoring runs was difficult on this pitch. In reply, Jharkhand got off to a flyer, putting 46 runs on the board without the loss of any wicket in 5.4 overs. Mystery spinner Varun then cleaned up Ishan Kishan to set things in motion for the bowling side. The second wicket fell in the 11th over, after which Jharkhand’s middle and lower-middle order collapsed like a pack of cards. Six more wickets fell in the next 30 deliveries with Sai Kishore being virtually unplayable.
Coming in at No. 3, Jharkhand captain Virat Singh fought gamely till the end and notched up an unbeaten half-century, but was eventually left with too much to do as wickets kept tumbling from the other end and he ran out of able partners at the non-striker’s end.
Pondy lose again:
Pondicherry went down to Tripura by 23 runs in Jaipur, losing their fifth match on the trot. Chasing 160 for victory, Pondicherry could only muster 136 for the loss of eight wickets in reply. SUMMARISED SCORES: In Lucknow: TN 138 all out in 20 overs (Sai Sudarshan 47*; Shahbaz 4-12, Vikash 3-22). Jharkhand 126-8 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 52*, Sai Kishore 3-6, M Ashwin 2-29). TN won by 12 runs; In Jaipur: Tripura 159-6 in 20 overs (Bikramkumar Das 61, Sudip Chatterjee 46; Ankit 2-19). Pondy 136-8 in 20 overs (Parvez 3-20). Tripura won by 23 runs