Tamil Nadu became the most successful team in the history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Monday in New Delhi, winning their third trophy after defeating arch-rivals Karnataka in a gripping final. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, big-hitter Shahrukh Khan pulled off a remarkable heist by hitting a 15-ball 33, including a last-ball six when Tamil Nadu needed 5 runs in the last delivery of their 152-run chase.
Karnataka scored 151 on a superb batting pitch, recovering from a top-order slump due to the brilliant Abhinav Manohar, who smashed a critical 47 in the middle order. Manish Pandey’s guys, on the other hand, played with all guns blazing on the field.
Tamil Nadu got off to a strong start in their run chase with Hari Nishanth’s quickfire 23 from only 12 balls, but he was run-out after which Karun Nair took the wicket of Sai Suddharsan in the eighth over.
In the middle overs, opener Narayan Jagadeesan struggled to get going as the wicketkeeper, along with Vijay Shankar, allowed the asking rate to rise due to a lack of boundaries. Captain Shankar was dismissed for 18 from 22 balls, while Jagadeesan only managed 41 from 56 balls.
Prateek Jain, a left-arm bowler, attempted to strike Shahrukh Khan’s boot, but the big-hitter picked up the delivery and flipped it into the mid-wicket stands, setting off on a victory lap.