Syed Mushtaq Ali: Shahrukh and Sai Kishore star as Tamil Nadu retain the crown | Cricket News – Times of India

CHENNAI: M Shahrukh Khan (33 n.o., 1×4, 3×6) and Sai Kishore (4-0-12-3 with the ball and an unbeaten 6) were the architects of Tamil Nadu’s four-wicket win over Karnataka that helped them retain the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 crown at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Monday. Tamil Nadu — chasing 152 — needed 16 from the last over with Shahrukh and Sai Kishore in the middle. The equation boiled down to 5 off the last ball and Shahrukh’s six over deep square-leg region off left-arm pacer Prateek Jain (1-34) took Tamil Nadu past the finish line and sparked wild celebrations in the dugout.
“Everyone dreams of a last-ball six and I will remember this innings for a very long time,” Shahrukh, the man-of-the-match, said after the clash. On his mindset before the last ball, Shahrukh said, “There were a lot of things going on in my mind. The ball was rough and the wicket was slow, so I wanted to connect it off the middle. I was waiting to hit it over long-on, but got the room over square leg,” pointed out Shahrukh.

The situation was tailor-made for Shahrukh who walked in the 16th over with Tamil Nadu needing 57 off 28 balls. Shahrukh didn’t take long to get going and the 17th over of the innings — bowled by medium-pacer MB Darshan — saw him hit a huge six over long-on followed by a boundary over the cover region. Tamil Nadu got 19 runs from that over. Prateek Jain — who bowled the 18th over — gave away just 6 runs which meant that Tamil Nadu needed 30 off the last 12. Sanjay Yadav and M Mohammed — scored 5 each — briefly gave company to Shahrukh before the arrival of Sai Kishore in the 19th over.
Earlier, N Jagadeesan (41, 2×4, 1×6) and skipper Vijay Shankar (18) kept Tamil Nadu in the chase with a 44-run partnership for the third wicket. The two were dismissed by Cariappa (2-23) in the 16th over. Shahrukh’s arrival subsequently turned the tide in Tamil Nadu’s favour.

In the first half of play, Karnataka finished with a fighting total thanks to the efforts of Abhinav Manohar (46) and Praveen Dubey (33). The side slipped to 32 for 3 by the 6th over after being inserted in. The experienced Manish Pandey (13) and Karun Nair (18) got off to starts but couldn’t last long. Sai Kishore and Sanjay Yadav (1-32) applied brakes in the initial overs before Abhinav and BR Sharath (16) steadied the Karnataka ship with their 55-run stand for the fourth wicket. Once Sharath was dismissed in the 14th over, Abhinav and Praveen Dubey kept the scoreboard ticking.
Brief scores: Karnataka 151-6 in 20 overs (Abhinav Manohar 46, Praveen Dubey 33; Sai Kishore 3-12). Tamil Nadu 153-6 in 20 overs (N Jagadeesan 41, Shahrukh Khan 33 n.o.). Tamil Nadu won by 4 wickets