Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Goa hand first loss to Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Defending champions Tamil Nadu went down to Goa by 7 wickets in their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 encounter in Lucknow on Monday. Goa's Shubham Ranjane (52 n.o., 3x4, 2x4) and Suyash Prabhudessai (43 n.o., 2x4, 3x6) played a key role in the side chasing down TN's target of 137 with 8 balls to spare. TN take on Punjab in their last league clash on Tuesday.
TN finished with 136 for 9 after being inserted in by Goa.TN's top-order had an off day as they slipped to 56 for 5 by the 11th over. The innings gathered steam with a 67-run sixth wicket stand between M Shahrukh Khan (26, 3x4) and Sanjay Yadav (38, 2x4, 2x6). The two departed in the 19th over and TN failed to achieve the final flourish. "I thought losing the toss proved to be crucial. The wicket was providing assistance to the medium-pacers. Batting first, we lost wickets early with not much on the board and that put us on the backfoot," skipper Vijay Shankar told TOI.
For Goa, left-arm pacer Shrikant Wagh (4 for 36) was the wrecker-in-chief. Shrikant - who moved from Vidarbha to Goa - got rid of opener Hari Nishaanth in his first spell before returning in the death overs to account for Sanjay Yadav, Shahrukh and M Mohammed.
Goa didn't have the best of starts to their chase. Medium-pacer Saravana Kumar (2-17) got rid of Goa opener Eknath Kerkar (0) and no. 3 Lakshay Garg (0) in the very first over to leave them on 4 for 2. However, Goa quickly regrouped with a 66-run third wicket stand between Aditya Kaushik (41, 4x4) and Shubham. Once Kaushik departed in the 12th over, Suyash joined hands with Shubham to take Goa past the finish line in the penultimate over.
Aparajith misses Goa clash: B Aparajith missed the Goa encounter on Monday with a hamstring niggle. "We are monitoring his progress. A call on his availability for the Punjab clash will be taken only on match day (Tuesday)," said a team source.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 136-9 in 20 overs (Sanjay Yadav 38; Shrikant Wagh 4 for 36). Goa 140-3 in 18.4 overs (Ranjane 52 n.o., Suyash Prabhudessai 43 n.o.; Saravana Kumar 2-17). Goa won by 7 wickets